{"id":791,"date":"2022-05-16T08:10:47","date_gmt":"2022-05-16T15:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/?p=791"},"modified":"2022-05-20T12:29:11","modified_gmt":"2022-05-20T19:29:11","slug":"the-year-so-far-january-thru-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/the-year-so-far-january-thru-may\/","title":{"rendered":"The Year so Far.\u00a0 January thru May"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have to confess I haven\u2019t written my reading blog for ages, though I have been reading. Of course. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I have been bingeing Patricia Highsmith.\u00a0 She is quite wonderful.\u00a0 I think what she gets is the ability of people to appear one way and yet underneath be totally monsters. \u00a0And vice versa.\u00a0 She knows perfectly well how women can manipulate men.\u00a0 And how weak men can be. These are fascinating areas and quite new in novel writing.<\/em><\/p>\n

Strangers on A Train (1950)\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

This is her first novel. Amazingly.\u00a0 Bought by Hitchcock and filmed.\u00a0 It is complex.\u00a0 And bears re-reading.<\/p>\n

The Tremor of Forgery (1969)\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

\u201cHighsmith\u2019s finest novel\u201d says Graham Greene.\u00a0 Set in Tunisia, an American writer, is drawn into something murderous. I love it, since I lived in Tunisia a short while. Also it’s brilliant.<\/p>\n

Those Who Walk Away\u00a0 (1967)\u00a0 \u00a0Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

I love this one.\u00a0 A grieving husband is assaulted by his father in law.\u00a0 From Rome to Venice where Ray is both the hunter and the hunted. \u00a0Alarming, and disturbingly good. I love the way she completely changes the settings of her stories.\u00a0 Mexico, Tunisia, Italy…<\/p>\n

The Blunderer (1954)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

The faithful husband wishes his wife dead.\u00a0 She dies.\u00a0\u00a0 Things change.\u00a0 Another brilliant book.<\/p>\n

Small g\u00a0 \u00a0 (1995)\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

Her final novel.\u00a0 Subtitled A Summer Idyll.\u00a0 It opens in Zurich in a bar with a brutal murder. \u00a0I so love how much she changes the set and settings of her novels.\u00a0 Here we\u2019re in Switzerland, there we\u2019re in Tunisia and Italy and \u2026<\/p>\n

A Game for The Living (1958) Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

Set in Mexico City.\u00a0\u00a0 Two friends both sleep with Leila. When she is raped and murdered both twist in \u201ca limbo of tension and doubt.\u201d\u00a0 Living with the possibility that one of them is a killer.<\/p>\n

Deep Water (1957)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith.<\/h2>\n

Now a movie.\u00a0 A very tolerant husband, who loves snails, turns a blind eye on his wife\u2019s adultery, which leaves him vulnerable.\u00a0 In the book this works terrifically.\u00a0 In the film not at all. \u00a0Possibly due to the fact that no one could quite believe Ben wouldn\u2019t shag her\u2026. \u00a0\u00a0Highsmith is brilliant, and I think foremost in her field, \u00a0in conveying the stresses and strains inside a marriage. Cinema is good at the exterior.\u00a0 The novel is better at the interior.\u00a0 I stumbled across the book and loved it.\u00a0 I searched for the movie and didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

All The Secrets of the World\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Steve Almond<\/h2>\n

Families and scorpions.\u00a0 Fascinating.<\/p>\n

The Driver\u2019s Seat\u00a0 1970\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

One of my favourite stories from one of my favourite authors.\u00a0 Kinda brilliant.<\/p>\n

The Palace Papers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tina Brown<\/h2>\n

She is excellent as usual on the Royals.\u00a0 The only problem (shh) is that they are boring.\u00a0 Dull.\u00a0 And uninteresting.\u00a0 Royalty is cruelty to humans. \u00a0Diana was a fascinating character to write about and her rebellion was a genuine threat to the Weird Family but this lot aren\u2019t very interesting.\u00a0 Andrew is a failed human being.\u00a0 Meghan, well Tina doesn\u2019t like her.\u00a0 And actually, who gives a flying fuck about any of the poor trapped victims? Apart from the Tabloids.\u00a0 For whom Royalty is like Hunting.<\/p>\n

The Flick\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anne Baker<\/h2>\n

Nice play.<\/p>\n

The Silence of The Girls\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pat Barker<\/h2>\n

Troy through the eyes of the women.\u00a0 What am I saying?\u00a0 It\u2019s all<\/em> women.\u00a0 They do everything, from feeding and washing and healing the men who fight , to being the unwitting cause of the whole war (thanks Eris) when Paris picks Helen.\u00a0 I adored this book.\u00a0 I think she is a wonderful writer.\u00a0 For the first time the Trojan War made sense to me.\u00a0 I really loved it and the sequel.<\/p>\n

The Women of Troy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pat Barker<\/h2>\n

Aftermath of the ten years war.\u00a0 Troy has fallen but the Greeks still cannot leave for home as the wind blows continually towards them.<\/p>\n

All The Secrets of the World\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Steve Almond<\/h2>\n

Families and scorpions.\u00a0 Fascinating.<\/p>\n

The Driver\u2019s Seat\u00a0 1970\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

One of my favourite stories from one of my favourite authors.\u00a0 Kinda brilliant.<\/p>\n

Run Towards the Danger\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sarah Polley<\/h2>\n

A wonderful book from a wonderful person I knew first as an eight year old child actor on Munchausen.\u00a0 As she grew up she was bothered by increasingly dark memories of filming in Italy and Spain.\u00a0 She wrote to me and I was able to tell her that she was quite right to be so traumatised.\u00a0 Her life was<\/em> in danger on many occasions.\u00a0 Once, recounted here unforgettably, Gilliam himself was responsible.\u00a0 This is not a pretty story, but it is essential for her to understand what went on.\u00a0 I am thrilled to be still in touch with her. She was a brave, and an amazing child and she has grown into an extraordinary mother, director, and writer.\u00a0 A National Treasure, Canada.<\/p>\n

The Palace Papers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tina Brown<\/h2>\n

She is excellent as usual on the Royals.\u00a0 The only problem (shh) is that they are boring.\u00a0 Dull.\u00a0 And uninteresting.\u00a0 Royalty is cruelty to humans. \u00a0Diana was a fascinating character to write about and her rebellion was a genuine threat to the Weird Family but this lot aren\u2019t very interesting.\u00a0 Andrew is a failed human being.\u00a0 Meghan, well Tina doesn\u2019t like her.\u00a0 And actually, who gives a flying fuck about any of the poor trapped victims? Apart from the Tabloids.\u00a0 For whom Royalty is like Hunting.<\/p>\n

And of course a slew of Maigrets.<\/p>\n

Maigret and Monsieur Charles<\/h2>\n

Maigret and The Saturday Caller<\/h2>\n

Maigret enjoys himself<\/h2>\n

Maigret and the Wine Merchant.<\/h2>\n

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2021<\/h2>\n

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January thru March<\/u><\/h1>\n

Sun King\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Ignatius<\/h2>\n

An elegantly written, modern take on Gatsby.\u00a0 A hedge fund billionaire attempts to buy his way into Washington and woo his dream girl. Excellent read.\u00a0 Made me re-read Gatsby.<\/p>\n

The Great Gatsby\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald.<\/h2>\n

Starts off with less drive than I remembered, but once Gatsby picks Nick Carraway up to head for New York on the train, stopping in the dust yards by the unforgettable eye glasses of Dr. Ecklenburg, to meet \u201chis girl\u201d in a garage with a poor mutt of a mechanic husband, the pace of the novel proceeds swiftly towards its tragic ending.\u00a0 They leave the garagiste for a drunken afternoon in New York.\u00a0 Only an alcoholic could so capture the vague leaps of time and events while they are drunk.\u00a0 Before the inevitable conclusion, which we still somehow don\u2019t see coming.<\/p>\n

The Gentlemen\u2019s Hour\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don Winslow<\/h2>\n

The Gentlemen\u2019s Hour is the surf time for the elderly retired crowd who surf in PB after the Dawn Patrol has gone to work.\u00a0 When one of their colleagues is murdered by three young brutes in a parking lot Boone Daniels, enamoured of a Brit investigator, helps her, working for the other side to convict him.\u00a0 Setting up tensions, losing friends, and influencing people to try and kill him\u2026<\/p>\n

Slough House\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron<\/h2>\n

The 7th<\/sup> in this highly readable and hilarious must read series: Slow Horses.\u00a0 With the wonderful Jackson Lamb.\u00a0 And the other sad failures.\u00a0 This must shortly be a TV series surely.<\/p>\n

Trio\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd<\/h2>\n

Read in a day.\u00a0 I like it when he writes about the movie business because he knows about it.\u00a0 He never disappoints.<\/p>\n

Luster\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raven Leilani<\/h2>\n

The best novel I have read in a long time.\u00a0 She is simply stunning.\u00a0 A must read.<\/p>\n

Maigret\u2019s Childhood Friend\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

An old friend seeks favours.\u00a0 Inappropriately. Maigret can\u2019t stand him, and he is clearly guilty. I like the insights into his childhood, and the class consciousness against his father.<\/p>\n

Vesper Flights\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Helen Macdonald<\/h2>\n

Naturalist essays by the brilliant author of H is for Hawk.\u00a0 Fascinating.<\/p>\n

The Road to Mars\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eric Idle<\/h2>\n

Someone suggested I read myself to cheer up, so I did.\u00a0 On Kindle. \u00a0I haven\u2019t read it in 20 years and thought it would be a lot worse.\u00a0 As it is I quite enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

Reaper Man\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Terry Pratchett.<\/h2>\n

So funny. Such a pity we never met.<\/p>\n

No Room at The Morgue\u00a0 Jean-Patrick Manchette<\/h2>\n

A French thriller writer I was unfamiliar with.\u00a0 He\u2019s good.\u00a0 There are lots more.<\/p>\n

Whiplash River\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lou Berney<\/h2>\n

Excellent thriller. Caribbean romps.\u00a0 He is good.<\/p>\n

The Slave Ship\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Marcus Rediker<\/h2>\n

Terrifying. Essential reading.\u00a0 A history of the most inhuman enterprise. For more than three centuries millions of Africans were kidnapped from Africa and transported across the world to the Southern States and the Caribbean to provide forced labour for intensive industries such as sugar, tobacco and cotton.\u00a0 A disgraceful, disgusting, dehumanising industry that is almost unimaginable to think about.\u00a0\u00a0 The terror of the Middle Passage is overwhelming, chained inside a hot crowded slave ship for eighteen hours or more a day.\u00a0 These poor people.\u00a0 The shame of this needs to be addressed. \u00a0The oddest fact is that the anti-slavery hymn Amazing Grace, is written by John Newton, who was a Captain in the vile trade, before he finally repented and wrote the hymn.<\/p>\n

The Creative Spark\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Augustin Fuentes<\/h2>\n

How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional.<\/p>\n

No One is Talking About This\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Lockwood<\/h2>\n

Me either.<\/p>\n

Memorial\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alice Oswald<\/h2>\n

A Version of Homer\u2019s Iliad.\u00a0 She translates the atmosphere and the litany of the dead. Not the plot. Brilliant.<\/p>\n

The Men Who Would Be King\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nicole Laporte<\/h2>\n

A trip through DreamWorks and the three ambitious people behind it, Spielberg, Katzenberg and Geffen.\u00a0 They formed a Studio at the worst possible moment. Formed with good intentions. Money would have helped. It focuses in on the strangely weird Katzenberg, who ends up with all the money and all the power.\u00a0 And none of the talent.<\/p>\n

Here We Are.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Swift<\/h2>\n

Magic, Theatre and Memory.<\/p>\n

The Fran Lebowitz Reader\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fran Lebowitz<\/h2>\n

I bought this after very much enjoying her extremely funny conversations with Marty Scorsese.<\/p>\n

Sadly this is an older book when she was not quite as hysterical as she is now. I look forward to a more up to date one.<\/p>\n

Savages\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don Winslow<\/h2>\n

I managed to read this before seeing the movie version.\u00a0 It\u2019s very enjoyable.\u00a0 The film seemed more violent.\u00a0 But I found the book more enjoyable though I liked the flick too.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Summer Reading<\/u><\/h1>\n

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Philip Roth.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Blake Bailey.<\/h2>\n

The Biography.\u00a0 I wonder if the biography of a novelist is ever as interesting as his books.\u00a0 I doubt it.<\/p>\n

This one certainly isn\u2019t and now I find the book itself is actually more interesting because it has been cancelled and withdrawn by the Publisher.\u00a0 We seem to be heading into dangerous waters.<\/p>\n

Bowie\u2019s Bookshelf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John O\u2019Connell<\/h2>\n

A lovely, elegant book, succinct, interesting, and beautifully written, it clearly shows the intellectual that David Bowie was.\u00a0\u00a0 Sympa, hip and erudite at the same time O\u2019Connell cleverly avoids the pitfalls of pretention and has written a tremendous tribute to an extraordinary man and gifted artist and also a good reading (and listening) guide to anyone interested.<\/p>\n

Maigret and the Wine Merchant \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

One of the most elegantly written Maigret\u2019s I remember.\u00a0 His books are never so much as who but understanding why. This one the murdered man has done everything to ensure the list of people wanting him dead is huge, as he is a rou\u00e9 and an adulterer.\u00a0 He is shot, leaving a fashionable but very discreet brothel.\u00a0 But who?\u00a0 Maigret suffers from a cold and sneezes his way across half of Paris before retiring to bed and of course solving the puzzle.\u00a0 A lovely book.<\/p>\n

The Bomber Mafia\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Malcolm Gladstone<\/h2>\n

Precision bombing. For and against.\u00a0 The politics and problems of firebombing in WW2.<\/p>\n

The Premonition\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Lewis<\/h2>\n

This is a must read to understand the pandemic and the response to it.\u00a0 Quite oddly it starts with George Bush and the unlikely fact that he had read a book that fired him up to realise that no one in the entire Government was in charge of any pandemic response.\u00a0 He insisted on starting such an organisation right away. \u00a0And did. \u00a0So kudos to him, though no amount of planning could forestall the damage a Trump can do. The book tells of the real heroes, mostly mavericks and outsiders, who persisted, often at the cost of their jobs, to prepare America for some kind of a response while the Trump Government utterly failed the people.\u00a0 A gripping and fascinating story.<\/p>\n

Lurkers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sandi Tan<\/h2>\n

I loved this book.\u00a0 Hilarious.<\/p>\n

In the Garden of the Beasts\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Erik Larson<\/h2>\n

The foolish naivete of the American family who came to the American Embassy in Berlin in 1933, when everyone was busy trying to pretend that the Hitler regime was no big deal. Tourists and others beaten by the Nazi thugs made it hard to look away but daughter Martha manages to, for quite some time, before inevitably the true nature of the organization reveals itself. The book is a picture of American ignorant innocence against vilely motivated right wing gangsters, which provides echoes of what we have all just witnessed in the White House.\u00a0 Never forget, Hitler said the next place for Nazism would be America.<\/p>\n

The Book of Eels\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patrick Svensson<\/h2>\n

Contains more than you ever thought you would want to know about eels, almost all of which is totally fascinating, including the amazing fact that they all originate in the Sargasso Sea.\u00a0 I\u2019d skip the fishing bits.<\/p>\n

The Autograph Man\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Zadie Smith<\/h2>\n

I hadn\u2019t read this one, so it\u2019s catch up time, because I adore this writer. I enjoyed this, what, her second novel? very much.<\/p>\n

King of the World\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Mansel<\/h2>\n

The Life of Louis XIV<\/em>.\u00a0 A lengthy but readable life of a man we have seen a lot of recently.\u00a0 An extraordinary life as he constructed a glittering cage for the nobility to entrap them in a Court where they must compete for favour and affection.\u00a0 I was intrigued to read about his early Pilgrimage to Provence (and indeed Cotignac) in 1660 to give thanks to God for himself.<\/p>\n

Fall\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Preston<\/h2>\n

The Mystery of Robert Maxwell<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Not much of a mystery since he was a crook and con man from the moment he left the army after WW2 as a decorated young officer with an enviable reputation for bravery. Giant balls and no morals, it\u2019s the story of Murdoch and Trump.\u00a0 The mystery to me is how he managed to get his hands on the millions of dollars from his own employees pension fund.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t just him who went belly up.<\/p>\n

Tales of the South Pacific\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Michener<\/h2>\n

I like dipping into these tales which contain the seeds and the characters for the Rogers and Hammerstein movie South Pacific, though the raping of American nurses by American soldiers is not selected as a theme for Broadway.<\/p>\n

Languages of Truth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Salman Rushdie<\/h2>\n

I raced through this book of Essays (2003 \u2013 2020) with increasing delight, mixed with anxiety at his own story of his long battle with Covid.\u00a0 But the book is a refreshing brain shower that sets off all kinds of resonances and a need to search, look up, re-read and basically have a good think.\u00a0 I have to declare that he asked me for permission to quote I\u2019m Not Yet Dead<\/em> from Spamalot<\/em> but I had forgotten about that till I got there.\u00a0 Likewise I was very moved by his elegy to our mutual friend Carrie Fisher.\u00a0 The first thing I did after reading this was to re-read\u2026<\/p>\n

Slaughterhouse Five\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kurt Vonnegut<\/h2>\n

The first half of which I found absolutely delightful, and the second half less so.\u00a0 Vonnegut is so funny and smart and great and always tries to keep the reader with him.<\/p>\n

Widespread Panic\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Ellroy<\/h2>\n

Can I declare I don\u2019t quite love him?\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s the prose.\u00a0 It gets in the way for me.\u00a0 He\u2019s like the school of Tom Wolfe where you are so busy looking at the writing BAM you get snapped out of the world of the novel.<\/p>\n

Double Blind.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edward St. Aubyn (signed)<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m going to give it another go.\u00a0 I was wildly excited by the Patrick Melrose novels, and gushed to him at a Memorial.\u00a0 I kept losing my way in this one.\u00a0 I have learned to put books by serious authors aside and come back to them. So I will.<\/p>\n

The Krull House\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon.<\/h2>\n

Not Maigret.<\/p>\n

The Kings of Cool\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don Winslow<\/h2>\n

In the prequel to Savages, this does exactly what I find Ellroy\u2019s prose doesn\u2019t, it excitingly paints the scene. Minimalism in the prose maximises the impact of the action.\u00a0 I really enjoyed this as indeed I do all his books.<\/p>\n

City On Fire\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don Winslow<\/h2>\n

He very kindly sent me an early copy of this elegant new first part of a trilogy of novels based on the Aeneid, though you probably wouldn\u2019t have guessed if you hadn\u2019t been told since it is set in Providence, Rhode Island. Brilliant and compelling. He is absolutely at the top of his game.\u00a0 This is a must read. And for me a Must Read Again.\u00a0 (Comes out in September). Can\u2019t wait for the next.<\/p>\n

Post August 16th<\/sup> <\/u><\/h2>\n

Frostquake\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Juliet Nicolson<\/h2>\n

I well remember the winter of 1963.\u00a0 So bloody cold.\u00a0 Snow till May.<\/p>\n

Inside Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Steinberg<\/h2>\n

Me too.<\/p>\n

Henderson the Rain King\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saul Bellow<\/h2>\n

He writes so divinely.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Mystery of Charles Dickens\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A. N. Wilson.<\/h2>\n

Beautifully written, elegantly told, I loved this book.\u00a0 It\u2019s amazing to me that I did a whole University Exam on Dickens and most of the facts discussed here were completely unknown.\u00a0 His love affair with the actress, with children, and his cruel treatment of his wife.\u00a0 Of course it was 1965\u2026.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t believe I haven\u2019t read this man.\u00a0 He is a delight.<\/p>\n

The Secret Life of the Savoy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Olivia Williams<\/h2>\n

And the D\u2019Oyly Carte family.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I loved this book too.\u00a0 Far better written than expected. I knew a lot of the early story about how D\u2019Oyly Carte built a theatre and Hotel at the Savoy from the money he made for Gilbert and Sullivan.\u00a0 The Theater was the first to have electricity. An extraordinary sea change in theatrical history.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 She tells the story elegantly with plenty of teasing details.\u00a0 Olivier and Marilyn on the cover, and you long to know what she was telling him in the Savoy bar.<\/p>\n

Beautiful World, Where are you.\u00a0 Sally Rooney<\/h2>\n

All unhappy love affair stories are the same\u2026 I really enjoyed the opening of this and then felt it tanked.\u00a0 I liked the stuff on the importance of the novel, but felt the story wasn\u2019t up to it. I really enjoyed all the bits about the late Bronze Age collapse. Relevant to today with the possibility it was caused by a pandemic.\u00a0 This was all new to me (novel) but I found the non-novel better than the novel.\u00a0 She should do some essays.\u00a0 (Like Zadie Smith.) I look forward to her next.<\/p>\n

Smoke\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joe Ide<\/h2>\n

An I. Q. novel. I have been following him since his debut.\u00a0 He tries to ring the changes on this one, but like all successful formats it becomes a bit of a trap.\u00a0 I think he should try something completely different, though he will be known for these books.<\/p>\n

The Chiffon Trenches\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Andre Talley<\/h2>\n

I find fashion not very interesting it seems. \u00a0\u00a0I met this pleasant man at the Bowie wedding in Florence.\u00a0 He was humiliated by Iman seizing his camera and unrolling the film.\u00a0 He went to his room he was so embarrassed.\u00a0 They were being paid a million by Hello Magazine for the exclusive..<\/p>\n

A Slow fire burning\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paula Hawkins<\/h2>\n

A thriller.\u00a0 It thrills.<\/p>\n

The End of Everything (Astrophysically speaking). Katie Mack<\/h2>\n

A fantastic book, which I had to read very slowly, a chapter at a time.\u00a0 It is mind blowing. \u00a0The five or six likeliest ends to the Universe are here simply laid out. \u00a0I first was amazed by her on The Infinite Monkey Cage.\u00a0 The end of the Universe is fascinating and I hope I\u2019ll be here to enjoy it.\u00a0 The most amazing thing is that in the future all the galaxies will have moved so far apart that we will have no sight or knowledge of the entire universe that came before.\u00a0 We will have reverted to the Medieval view of the Universe, that there is just us\u2026<\/p>\n

She has the funniest footnotes.\u00a0 I suggested she might win a Nobel Prize for her footnotes.<\/p>\n

Smoke and Mirrors\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Neil Gaiman<\/h2>\n

I don\u2019t read a lot of fantasy so I have not read him as widely as I should.\u00a0 I really enjoyed this book though.\u00a0 My favorite was The Goldfish Pool and other stories, which was hilarious.\u00a0 And accurate. I will read more.\u00a0 He is a wonderful writer.<\/p>\n

Changing my mind\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Zadie Smith<\/h2>\n

Occasional Essays.\u00a0 Always interesting. Of course I love everything she writes.\u00a0 She seemed to be defining a form of Quantum criticism in her essay on Barthes and Nabokov.\u00a0\u00a0 Learning to re-read almost as important as learning to read.\u00a0 A good book is one you can<\/em> re-read, a great book is one you must.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cCuriously enough, one cannot read a book: one can only re-read it.\u00a0 A good reader, a major reader, an active and creative reader is a rereader.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Dip and enjoy.\u00a0 Gold everywhere.<\/p>\n

Based on a True Story. \u00a0 Norm Macdonal<\/h2>\n

I wasn\u2019t aware of his work.\u00a0 I downloaded this to Kindle after he died.\u00a0 It\u2019s a funny autobiography, but thanks to his first love for drugs and alcohol, slightly less coherent than it might be.\u00a0 Indeed he has a fictional co-conspirator with him and can\u2019t wait to be away from the serious bits of his life story, indeed at times he seems to be channelling\u00a0 Hunter Thompson.\u00a0 Clearly an outrageous chap, he left lots of comedians distraught by news of his death.\u00a0 I met him briefly one year at Marty Short\u2019s Christmas Party.<\/p>\n

Peril.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bob Woodward and Bob Costa<\/h2>\n

The importance of Democracy is to vote unsuitable characters out and so I read the terrifying Trump chapters, and skipped the less interesting Biden scenes. America dodged a bullet but only just and the bullet (still mad) keeps on coming, because a con man is like a shark and must keep on going forward so somehow some people don\u2019t notice that he is lying through his teeth and everything he says is worthless.\u00a0 Sadly this shark is killing thousands of Americans. \u00a0Poor suckers.<\/p>\n

My Mother Was Nuts\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penny Marshall<\/h2>\n

I didn\u2019t know Penny had written a book.\u00a0 Nice scenes of the early days and Laverne and Shirley.\u00a0 She visits us one year with Art on a Motorbike.\u00a0 I liked the crew of characters she grew up with and played with and partied with.\u00a0 I know lots of them.\u00a0 I found when her book got onto making movies I was less interested.\u00a0 Movie making is as dull to read about as it is to do.\u00a0 But she was always a treat and of course I married her on Laverne and Shirley..<\/p>\n

Rebellion \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter Ackroyd<\/h2>\n

The History of England from James 1 to The Glorious Revolution.\u00a0 Beautifully written history by a writer who is a master of the anecdote.\u00a0\u00a0 Very fine, popular history, that began with the Tudors, which I skipped and I can\u2019t wait to continue.<\/p>\n

April in Spain\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Banville<\/h2>\n

Just a bit too gentle and laid back for my taste.\u00a0 He is an amazing writer whom I have enjoyed widely.<\/p>\n

Cloud Cuckoo Land\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Doerr<\/h2>\n

Another brilliant book from the most brilliant writer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Lincoln Highway\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Amor Towles<\/h2>\n

Sadly I have never really got into him. I find him more of a parodist.\u00a0 He writes well but..<\/p>\n

The Man who Died Twice\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Osman<\/h2>\n

Literally a Who Dunit, this is a really funny book, the sequel to a highly popular first book The Thursday Murder Club Mystery which I will order immediately.\u00a0\u00a0 Hugely popular in the UK he deserves to be widely read and appreciated everywhere.<\/p>\n

The Promise\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Damon Galgut<\/h2>\n

Booker prize winner and deservedly so. Really a family saga, which also contains the modern history of South Africa, from the deplorable apartheid world of Dr. Verwoerd to the current day. It is also a mento mori, a philosophical study of the human constantly condition faced with human mortality.<\/p>\n

Effortlessly linked are the stories of Amor, and what happens to her two siblings Astrid and Anton.\u00a0 Really an amazing book.<\/p>\n

Silverview\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

A posthumous novel completed by his son.<\/p>\n

Camino Winds\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Grisham<\/h2>\n

Ok.<\/p>\n

The Deer Park\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Norman Mailer<\/h2>\n

Re-reading this book always gives me the utmost delight.\u00a0\u00a0 It is one of my favourite novels. \u00a0It has the ring of reality. It is written with effortless energy.\u00a0 The characters are instantly recognisable, even when they are movie stars.\u00a0 It\u2019s about Palm Springs and the Movie People but it is really about Love.\u00a0\u00a0 And Sex.\u00a0\u00a0 I had not realised until now that his Publisher rejected it, and Mailer refused to make cuts.\u00a0 In 1955 Viking stepped in. I have a British first edition from Arthur Wingate 1957. I don\u2019t know anything finer by this author.\u00a0 I am hard put to explain why I find it so appealing.\u00a0 I think it is because he brilliantly pictures two different male\/female relationships, but each couple with the same tensions.\u00a0 The whole ambivalence of love and lust, and fear of, and gratitude for, such bonding.\u00a0 He understands this beyond his years (the war) and is able to illustrate perfectly, the unique human ability of the sexes to misunderstand each other and yet still be reconciled through sex.\u00a0 Both share the magic.\u00a0 It is a wonderful commonality.<\/p>\n

The swats at the film industry are funny, as they always are at that industry.\u00a0\u00a0 I had never spotted any Fitzgerald in Mailer hitherto and yet here it is in Sam Spades, but with a strength, clarity and modernity of language which I think is new, both from and caused by the wartime experiences of these writers.\u00a0 Remember Holden Caulfield travelled across the battlefields of Europe in the knapsack of J. D. Salinger. From D-Day to Dachau.\u00a0 They were young men, but with such awful, traumatising experiences of war.\u00a0 No wonder their novels seemed fresh and arresting.\u00a0 They had lived with death.<\/p>\n

The Left Handed Twin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

In cracking form this is one of the most thrilling of his recent novels. It\u2019s a Jane Whitefield novel, and the pursuit of her along the Appalachian trail is one of the most intense things he has ever written.<\/p>\n

The Silence of the Girls\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pat Barker<\/h2>\n

One of the most brilliant and best written books I have ever read.\u00a0 I really loved this account of Troy through the eyes of the women.\u00a0 A terrific idea and wonderfully executed. She writes like an angel.\u00a0 I thought she brought to life the daily incessant dull, terrifying grind of warfare brilliantly, and how virtually invisible the women are.\u00a0 Between Queens and slaves.<\/p>\n

The Women of Troy. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pat Barker<\/h2>\n

And I loved the sequel too.<\/p>\n

The Thursday Murder Club\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Osman<\/h2>\n

Reluctantly retired oldies solve crimes.\u00a0 Funny and sweet.<\/p>\n

Revolution.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter Ackroyd<\/h2>\n

The next book in a very fine history of England from the Battle of the Boyne to the Battle of Waterloo.<\/p>\n

He writes very well and his stories are fine and well chosen.<\/p>\n

Mike Nichols A Life\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mark Harris<\/h2>\n

A very fine portrait of a wonderful man.\u00a0 I must have met Mark at Mike\u2019s apartment. He is married to Tony Kushner the brilliant writer.\u00a0 The book is both sympathetic and insightful, and highly readable.<\/p>\n

Dolphin Junction\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron.<\/h2>\n

The latest thriller from the very best contemporary British thriller writer.\u00a0 He is a must read.<\/p>\n

On Provence\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Henry James<\/h2>\n

He is a mustn\u2019t read.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unposted<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 2020<\/h2>\n

Command Option 1 \/ 2 \/ 3<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My favourite Book of the Year<\/u><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

It seems obvious that lockdown has encouraged a thriller binge, reading for fun and escape, so it should be no surprise that my favourite book of the year is:<\/p>\n

Broken\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don Winslow<\/h2>\n

Fabulous.\u00a0 Five or six novella length stories.\u00a0 Quite brilliantly written. Don Winslow has filled up the hole in my life left by the death of Elmore Leonard. It is the sheer joie de vivre of his prose, his fuckit let\u2019s tell this story style, that makes him so readable.<\/p>\n

December<\/u><\/h1>\n

The Dawn Patrol\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don Winslow<\/h2>\n

A whole community arises before our eyes, of surfers, of cops, of cops who surf and surfers who cop, in Pacific Beach down by San Diego. Here we meet Boone Daniels, the ex-cop PI surfer and his crew including Sunny, Hang Twelve, Dave the Love God and Johnny Banzai, members of The Dawn Patrol who surf before work, to be replaced by The Gentleman\u2019s Hour, older men who talk as much as surf.\u00a0 It\u2019s an intricate California social world, set around La Jolla and the beaches, of a new world of modern housing estates, intruding on an old world of surfers. Breath-taking narrative and a delight to go along with.<\/p>\n

The Winter of Frankie Machine\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don Winslow<\/h2>\n

The surfing guys again.\u00a0 Many people want to get rid of Frankie Machine.\u00a0 If they can find him.<\/p>\n

The Creative Spark.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Augustin Fuentes<\/h2>\n

No not Muriel\u2026 Totally fascinating.<\/p>\n

The Death and Life of Bobby Z.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don Winslow<\/h2>\n

A fascinating and absorbing breath-taking ride.<\/p>\n

The Colossus of Maroussi\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Henry Miller<\/h2>\n

Travel writing.\u00a0 Miller in Greece. Lovely tales.\u00a0 Interesting he was great friends with Lawrence Durrell.<\/p>\n

Eddie\u2019s Boy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

Such a delight.\u00a0 Thomas Perry comes through for Christmas again.\u00a0 The Butcher\u2019s Boy is back again.\u00a0 He cannot hide.\u00a0 So he must run, first to Australia, then to America, to try and destroy who is trying to kill him.<\/p>\n

Maigret and the Loner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

So often with Simenon it\u2019s the weather he starts, with, the early summer in Paris, the fog on the coast, the heavy barges ploughing along a rainy Seine.\u00a0 This one starts with a heat wave in Paris.\u00a0 Maigret investigates the murder of a tramp in Les Halles, the Covent Garden of the capital, which leads to the unsolved case of a naked girl, with two lovers,\u00a0 strangled in a nearby apartment.\u00a0 Was one culpable?\u00a0 All these years later the\u00a0 truth begins to unravel.<\/p>\n

Broken\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don Winslow<\/h2>\n

Fabulous.\u00a0 Five or six novella length stories.\u00a0 Quite brilliantly written.<\/p>\n

November<\/u><\/h1>\n

The Silence Don DeLillo<\/h2>\n

Fine writing, slender book.<\/p>\n

V2\u00a0 Robert Harris<\/h2>\n

Both sides of the Vengeance Weapon unleashed on London in the last few months of WW2.<\/p>\n

More terrifying than the V1, but it seems the tremendous cost of this final weapon to turn the war around was too much.\u00a0 It\u2019s terror was real.\u00a0 It\u2019s creator Werner Von Braun would defect to America at the end and take the US to the moon.<\/p>\n

The Long and Faraway Gone.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lou Berney<\/h2>\n

A tragic shooting in a Mall Movie House.\u00a0 Time passes.\u00a0 Wounds are not healed.<\/p>\n

Sapiens\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yuval Noah Harari<\/h2>\n

Re read.\u00a0 Fascinating news about our species.<\/p>\n

Girl, Woman, Other\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bernadine Evaristo<\/h2>\n

This surprisingly won the Booker Prize of 2019.\u00a0 Sadly it didn\u2019t win me.<\/p>\n

Isle of Joy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don Winslow<\/h2>\n

As in \u201cWe\u2019ll turn Manhattan into an..\u201d\u00a0 A love letter to New York. 1996 early Don Winslow.\u00a0 Beautifully written.<\/p>\n

The Third Man.\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

I read a first edition from 1950 to remind me what Greene is good at: storytelling, and prose.\u00a0 In his Introduction he disparages this story, as it changed when it became a film, but it\u2019s still very good.\u00a0 Martin Amis said he didn\u2019t like him and for the same reason I used to quote:\u00a0 God.\u00a0 You simply don\u2019t want Him banging around in your books.\u00a0 Fortunately there are many fine Greene novels where He doesn\u2019t appear.\u00a0 And they are much better than just good.<\/p>\n

Inside Story\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/h2>\n

A very interesting book, which is a memoir written by a novelist as fiction.\u00a0 I always used to think of him as one of the new young writers but I realise that he is now over 70.\u00a0 This, appropriately is a Memento Mori, a book about death, and in particular about four, deceased, extraordinary men who played a huge part in his life:\u00a0 Christopher Hitchens his great friend, and a remarkable friendship it was too, his father, the novelist Kingsley Amis, and his<\/em> closest friend the poet Philip Larkin, and Saul Bellow, an adopted father really, whom Amis considers the finest American novelist.\u00a0 Along the way we get very useful insights into the theory and practise of writing, and some lovely autobiographical scenes, frequently with The Hitch which are always thoughtful and touching.\u00a0 He memorialises the wonderful Hitchens and the bravery of his last years, when he was suffering so badly from the smoking that killed him and so many others.<\/p>\n

October<\/u><\/h1>\n

Snow\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Banville<\/h2>\n

And he does write brilliantly about snow, which pervades this whole yarn: a detective mystery tale about a dead Priest in a Protestant family Mansion, two hours from Dublin.\u00a0 A Prot policeman from the Garda\u00a0 has to deal with a Cluedo-like cast of characters.\u00a0 Quotes on the back compare him to Nabokov which is ridiculous.\u00a0 Here he is closer to Simenon.\u00a0 We know he loves Chandler as he wrote a whole book in his style and his affection for the thriller is obvious here in a very smart, interesting, Irish revenge story.<\/p>\n

Say Nothing\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patrick Radden Keefe<\/h2>\n

A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland.<\/em><\/p>\n

A brilliant history of The Troubles.\u00a0 Essential reading.\u00a0 Quite brilliantly told. I loved every second of it, and lived through quite a lot of it in London.\u00a0 I think I even met the Price Sister at some trendy lefty thing in London. \u00a0Fascinating. In any other year this contemporary history of Northern Island would be my book of the Year.<\/p>\n

The Chain\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Adrian McKinty<\/h2>\n

A brilliant thriller, recommended by Don Winslow.\u00a0 A terrific narrative hook this highly readable page turner is currently Thriller Writer winning awards.<\/p>\n

Fifty Fifty\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Steve Cavanagh<\/h2>\n

Another thriller with a clever narrative hook.\u00a0 Two sisters on trial for murder accuse each other.\u00a0 Who do you believe?<\/p>\n

Maigret and The Loner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

A vagrant dead in Montmartre in Les Halles.<\/p>\n

The King in Yellow\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Chandler.<\/h2>\n

Such a brilliant opening, it suggests to me he took a short story and expanded it into this novel which is never quite as good as it\u2019s beginning.<\/p>\n

Squeeze Me: A Novel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carl Hiaasen<\/h2>\n

Pythons in Florida.\u00a0 Funny and deadly.\u00a0 The perfect beach book but oh where is the perfect beach?<\/p>\n

September<\/u><\/h1>\n

Thunderstruck\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eric Larson<\/h2>\n

Two intertwined stories, the flight and arrest of Dr. Crippen and his lover Ethel Neve who were arrested on an ocean liner after an international hunt.\u00a0 Their capture as they fled to Canada was entirely due to transatlantic messages relayed for the first time through Marconi\u2019s new transmitter.\u00a0 The other half of the book is the story of Marconi himself, his remarkable invention, his travails trying to make it work and his eventual success, marriage, etc. etc. The problem is that the story of the pursuit of the runaway couple, he wanted for the murder of his wife, \u00a0she disguised as a boy, the chase all the way to the mouth of the St. Lawrence and their final arrest by the Scotland Yard Detective Dew, who arrives before them on a faster boat, is played out with the whole world watching, while they remained ignorant of the international excitement.\u00a0 This <\/em>story is far more thrilling than Marconi\u2019s squabbles with competitors and\u00a0 his many attempts to connect ships to shore, which cannot match the tale of a quiet cold-blooded psychopathic wife-murderer, a Doctor who chops up his spouse, disposes of her bones somewhere locally (probably the Canal) and then buries the skin and viscera under the cement in his basement coal cellar, all within 24 hours, without arousing any attention.\u00a0 I had not known that Crippen and his wife Cora were both American. Ethel Neve not.\u00a0 This book would be twice as good with half the material.<\/p>\n

The Lion \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

An English professor is offered a bizarre chance to get his hands on a believed extinct Chaucer poem.<\/p>\n

A short story length book and excellent as usual.<\/p>\n

Maigret and The Informer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Always reliable.\u00a0 The perfect pocket book.\u00a0 The perfect palate cleanser.<\/p>\n

Fifth Avenue 5 A.M.\u00a0 Sam Wasson<\/h2>\n

Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany\u2019s, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman.<\/em><\/p>\n

Slightly pretentious sub-title but good fun.\u00a0 An enjoyable romp through the casting and filming of the movie. \u00a0Including the song, the song, the song\u2026.\u00a0 Moon River.\u00a0 When they did this as a musical in London (with Anna Friel) they unaccountably left out this amazing song which was as daft as leaving out What\u2019s it all about? <\/em>from the remake of Alfie.<\/p>\n

The Beatles from A to Zed. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter Asher<\/h2>\n

By a much-loved old pal, this is a very fine alphabetical stroll through the Beatle song canon. Stemming from his Radio show of the same name, it is deceptively simple and easy to read, but crammed with great perceptions and personal memories, it is an invaluable look at the serious business of song writing.\u00a0 Peter worked at Apple, while his sister Jane was dating Paul McCartney and he was often either present in the house while Lennon and McCartney were writing some of their classic Beatle songs, or else when in the studio recording them. Highly enjoyable and informative, his insights and memories make this a unique look at the greatest British composers of the Sixties.<\/p>\n

Barbarian Days\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Finnegan<\/h2>\n

A Surfing Life<\/em><\/p>\n

A bit more than I ever needed to know about surfing.\u00a0 It won a Pulitzer Prize, and rightly so for it is very finely written but I had had enough of surfing after a while, only to stumble into the world of Don Winslow!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

August<\/u><\/h1>\n

Trust Exercise\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Susan Choi<\/h2>\n

I thought this book had a magnificent opening. \u00a0The first chapters were clever and brilliant.\u00a0 A fictional memoir of young actors at a Performing High School in a southern City on the East coast.\u00a0 I was bowled over and so enjoying it.\u00a0 Then she pulled an interesting move.\u00a0 She advanced the story ten years, when one of the characters in the memoir interestingly doorsteps the memoir writer at Skylight Books.\u00a0 The confrontation is between the \u201creal,\u201d what Karen the \u201ccharacter\u201d girl thinks happened, and the fictional memoir by Sarah the memoir writer.\u00a0 So far so good.\u00a0 But it quickly gets confusing.\u00a0\u00a0 Where are we going?\u00a0 Revenge?\u00a0 Hatred?\u00a0 Resentment?\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s unclear.\u00a0 Then a third character enters, Kevin, who also begin narrating.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry.\u00a0 Three narrators is a play<\/em>.\u00a0 She is undoubtedly brilliant and I shall try other books but I miss the first one she was writing here.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Intimations\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Zadie Smith<\/h2>\n

It seems slight, it seems light, but it is heavy and essential reading, with serious questions to ask ourselves about 2020.\u00a0 She is quietly despairing of racism in this country and concludes \u201cthat my physical and moral cowardice have never been tested, until now.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Delicious and deceptively simple these philosophical essays have great resonance, and set a benchmark asking the question where we should begin considering how much we owe to ourselves as self-centred evolving individuals and how much we owe to being part of a society in a pandemic at a time of great civic unrest.\u00a0 The essays are scattered with little observational character gems that she drops effortlessly into her wonderful prose:\u00a0 \u201cBen\u2026makes baldness look like an achievement..\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 A book to carry around, re-read and reconsider.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m thinking the Wordsworth allusion is to make us think of Mortality.\u00a0 Which is really her subject.<\/p>\n

November Road\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lou Berney<\/h2>\n

Recommended by Don Winslow.\u00a0 This book really crushes it. Everything you ever wanted in a great fuck-off read.\u00a0 In New Orleans in 1963 a low life is assigned to remove a vehicle from a Houston garage and dump it in the Ship Channel.\u00a0 A Cadillac that has come from Dallas.\u00a0 With a used Mannlicher rifle in the trunk!\u00a0 Kennedy\u2019s assassination is on TV everywhere.\u00a0 Oswald is shot by Jack Ruby. \u00a0\u00a0The guy realises he is wanted by everyone from the FBI down and must try and escape from all those who want him dead.\u00a0 Very sweetly he hooks up with a battered wife and kids on the road to eventual, but subtle, redemption.<\/p>\n

Gutshot Straight.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lou Berney<\/h2>\n

I decided I need to read more of this guy and so I downloaded his first novel.\u00a0 Written during the Writer\u2019s Strike of the first decade of the millennium, the influence of writing for the screen can be seen in the characteristic short scenes which are whole chapters and the general smart pace of the piece, which is essential for a thriller. \u00a0Cut to Cut to… But he has a great talent. \u00a0And I\u2019m starting his penultimate one\u2026<\/p>\n

July<\/u><\/h1>\n

Utopia Avenue\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mitchell<\/h2>\n

The latest by a favourite writer, I loved this novel for most of the time.\u00a0 Sometimes I think he is channelling me, he refers to so many places and events I recall.\u00a0 Black Swan Green is set in Worcestershire where I was wicket keeper for Redditch third XI\u2019s.\u00a0 Then there\u2019s Butlins, Skegness,\u00a0 The Marquee Club, watching the psychedelic early Pink Floyd play at UFO in the Tottenham Court Road, I remember dancing for hours to those lava lamp oil projections, to Granny Takes a Trip, <\/em>Nina Simone at Ronnie Scott\u2019s, yes I was there, \u00a0<\/em>but he is at least a decade younger.\u00a0 This story tells of life back stage in cheap gigs on the road with an evolving British Pop group (Utopia Avenue)\u00a0 in the Sixties.\u00a0 Real people, like Bowie, Marc Bolan, Sanny Dennis etc pop[ in for the odd cameo. Three creative talents, all writers brought together into a group by Levon, Canadian entrepreneur friend of (real person) Joe Boyd. Elf, Jasper and Dean.\u00a0 I was never quite convinced by Dean, the lead singer.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t see him.\u00a0 Elf is interesting, but Jasper (de Zoet) develops an inner poltergeist, which takes his life off at a tangent.\u00a0\u00a0 So while it was fun and terrific, and it was great to visit the Troubadour again and watch them making it, I don\u2019t think he quite nailed it.\u00a0 I\u2019m not quite sure why, but I\u2019m going to read the ending again and see what I think.<\/p>\n

The Border\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don Winslow<\/h2>\n

The third and possibly the most powerful of an extraordinarily fine Cartel trilogy, the tale spans over 45 years of the powerful warring drug cartels, the men who lead them, the agents who fight them, the women they seduce and the cold continuous bitter-cruel killing that only escalates the more money the endless War on Drugs pumps in to the whole corrupt mix. This longest, endless and most unwinnable war undertaken by America, continues to corrupt civilization and destroy democracy while delivering daily death to US junkies, and misery to thousands of Mexicans.\u00a0 It is clearly only slightly fictional and has so much relevance for and disgust with the current political kakistocracy in the US.\u00a0 He has been writing this story for thirty years.\u00a0 It is a huge achievement and a great read.\u00a0 I kept asking myself, as\u00a0 a contemporary novel what is this like? It has the social reach of Dickens, the anger and the despair, the view of the helpless poor trapped by the hypocrisy of the greedy,\u00a0 but in its savage view of the depths of human behaviour and betrayal it is more like Dostoyevsky, or even Webster. \u00a0Throwing kids off a bridge being the most notable of the many outrages he evidences.\u00a0 For this reads, not like fiction, but like truth. Dickens uses comedy to sustain.\u00a0 Mr. Winslow only occasionally. His books are deadly serious. Not afraid to lay the blame, his finger points to the highest in the land, the US President\u2019s son-in-law is involved raising money from the cartels for his campaign.\u00a0 It\u2019s all there. The New York property draining away their financial security and the complicity of foreign banks to come to the rescue of a campaign that is happy to accept help from gangsters and Russian mob leaders. We read with belief, yes this is how it is, and despair, yes this is what will happen.\u00a0 Corruption prospers at a trough.\u00a0 Turn the tap and watch the piggy\u2019s feed. We need to end the War on Drugs, legalize them and treat them as the social health problem that they are.\u00a0 Amazing work. \u00a0Bravo.<\/p>\n

June<\/u><\/h1>\n

The Novellas of John O\u2019Hara<\/h2>\n

I was reading these in a nice Modern Library Edition (1995) \u00a0They are just great to dip into.\u00a0 I dipped deep.\u00a0 Great bedside book.<\/p>\n

Push through\u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carey Harrison<\/h2>\n

The last in a quartet of remarkable novels that is his life\u2019s work and a singular achievement.\u00a0 I love the way he can handle large scenes with multiple characters, because he is also a very fine playwright, and can manage this very difficult skill.\u00a0 He may be an old friend but he can really write.. bu since he has been my friend since 1963 I will quote someone else: \u201c\u2026This novelist of such amazing dexterity, humanity, inventive skill. He reminds me of Durrell, of Burgess \u2013 yet with a sense of tenderness often missing in those showmen. I\u2019ve since read as much as I can of this writer, unfailingly inventive \u2013 as I read his work, I often feel (as with Powys often, and Lawrence sometimes) that I\u2019m reading a detective story that turns out to be about me.\u201d\u00a0 1968 he began what was to become a quartet of novels:\u00a0 The Heart Beneath, beginning publication with\u00a0Richard\u2019s Feet\u00a0<\/a>(1990)\u00a0Cley<\/a>\u00a0(1992), and\u00a0Egon<\/a>\u00a0(1993), and completed in 2016 by\u00a0How to Push Through<\/a>, a project which the author regards as his primary life\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

The Newton Letter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Banville<\/h2>\n

I reread a flawless novella from 1982 from John Banville.<\/p>\n

The Comedians\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

One of my favourite books. I love re-reading it. Greene explores the roles we all play in our lives. Even beginning with a joke, the three men who meet on a boat into Haiti are called Smith, Brown and Jones.\u00a0 He is Brown, the lost soul, who loses his mother, loses his hotel, his mistress, but not his wife, ends up ironically as a Funeral Director.\u00a0\u00a0 He misses what others see in Jones, whom he foolishly thinks is a rival.<\/p>\n

May<\/u><\/h1>\n

Until the End of Time\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brian Greene<\/h2>\n

I read this in a hurry as I was about to join him on BBC\u2019s The Infinite Monkey Cage,<\/em> but now I find myself going back and dipping into some of the fascinating things he reveals about the Universe.\u00a0 \u00a0It’s more interesting than science fiction.\u00a0 In fact the whole Universe is far weirder than the bearded conjurer theory.\u00a0 \u00a0I want to read more.<\/p>\n

I downloaded two Don Winslow books on to Kindle because they are so heavy! Alas I began to read the wrong one.\u00a0 I meant to read The Border, the third part of his trilogy but I inadvertently started\u2026.<\/p>\n

The Force\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don Winslow<\/h2>\n

\u2026so I continued.\u00a0 It was very prescient, a book about Police Corruption and the Manhattan Police.\u00a0 Fascinating.\u00a0 A brilliant portrait of a corrupt cop and what happens on the streets of NY.<\/p>\n

Now perhaps I can finish his brilliant Trilogy.<\/p>\n

Laugh Lines\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alan Zweibel<\/h2>\n

My life helping funny people be funnier.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hilarious.\u00a0 I loved this book.\u00a0 He is a wonderful man.\u00a0 \u00a0I\u2019m so glad I have known him since SNL in 1976.\u00a0 I also am very proud of him.\u00a0 He sent me a dollar of course\u2026.\u00a0For interviewing him on a forthcoming Zoom.<\/p>\n

Strangers on a Train\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

Was this her first?\u00a0 Hitchcock made the movie.\u00a0 This was not my favourite read of hers. I was disappointed and bailed.<\/p>\n

Catch and Kill\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ronan Farrow<\/h2>\n

I started this brilliant book in hardback when it first came out, but finished it recently on Kindle.\u00a0 It is an amazing achievement and worthy of all the awards he picked up.\u00a0 He takes down the appalling sexual bully and rapist Weinstein, as well as NBC and their misguided attempts to shield Matt Lauer from the retribution he totally deserved.\u00a0 Along the way he has to face many attempts to stop him, including the attentions of Black Cube, which is, reassuringly a post Mossad group for hire, if you have, you know, raped anyone recently.\u00a0 They can help.<\/p>\n

Talking to Strangers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Malcolm Gladwell<\/h2>\n

I finally finished this intriguing book.\u00a0 He is always readable.\u00a0 Like a feast for the mind.<\/p>\n

Maigret and the Old People. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Wonderful as usual.<\/p>\n

So you don\u2019t get lost in the neighbourhood.\u00a0 \u00a0Patrick Modiano<\/h2>\n

A bit French for me.<\/p>\n

American Dirt\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeanine Cummins<\/h2>\n

Starts fantastically well but I felt it ran out of steam towards the end.\u00a0 I prefer Don Winslow in the horrendous world of the Mexican cartels, but she is certainly impressive, and he recommends this, if indeed it is not quite The Grapes of Wrath.\u00a0 \u00a0The Rapes of Wrath?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/u><\/h1>\n

\u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

April<\/u><\/h1>\n

Hi Five\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joe Ide<\/h2>\n

An IQ novel<\/em><\/p>\n

Well into his stride now, his books are effortlessly readable.\u00a0 I\u2019m not quite sure I get much of a picture of IQ his protagonist, I still don’t quite have an image of him in my mind,\u00a0 but I really enjoy reading his author.\u00a0 \u00a0This one concerns someone who is accused of murder who is a Multi, and that in itself leads to complications.\u00a0 Highly original.\u00a0 Good stuff.<\/p>\n

No Bones\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anna Burns<\/h2>\n

The great thing about age is you can happily re-read a book you just read recently with only a dim awareness of what happens.\u00a0 This was her first novel and I liked it very much. Her writing is wonderful, in Belfast rhythms with slang and issues, a young girl, her family and friends at the beginning of the Troubles. I did indeed read it in January 2018 and said then \u201c She manages to be both bleak and satirical at the same time, as well as the finest prose writer.\u201d\u00a0 I agree with me.<\/p>\n

Lady in Waiting\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anne Glenconner<\/h2>\n

My Extraordinary Life in the shadow of the Crown <\/em><\/p>\n

A highly readable memoir of the Upper Classes and the poor woman who was married to the loony Peer Colin Tennant, the King of Mustique.\u00a0 She becomes Lady in Waiting to the less than fabulous Princess Margaret.\u00a0 This is a fascinating glimpse of the children of the Bright Young Things. Her description of the Coronation, where she was one of the six ladies in waiting carrying the train of the Queen at that extraordinary event, is worth the price of admission alone.\u00a0 Kindle.<\/p>\n

Maigret in Vichy<\/h2>\n

A memorable one.\u00a0 Maigret is a fish out of water, taking the waters in Vichy, when a little old lady he and the Mrs have been holiday watching is suddenly found dead. Of course the local police ask for Maigret\u2019s help and of course he can\u2019t resist.<\/p>\n

Apropos of Nothing\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Woody Allen<\/h2>\n

Interesting autobiography of America\u2019s most famous comedian and director of our time.\u00a0 Interesting that he says he is not an intellectual, and indeed he never went to college. It was fun to read about his movies.\u00a0 But we were all waiting for how he writes about HER\u2026 and he does.<\/p>\n

Read on Kindle.<\/p>\n

March<\/u><\/h1>\n

The Splendid and the Vile\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Erik Larson<\/h2>\n

A terrific read.\u00a0 About Winston Churchill in the dark days of 1940, replacing Chamberlain as Prime Minister with the country in imminent danger of German invasion.\u00a0 It\u2019s about his crew, Beaverbrook and Tree and so on, his loyal family, his determination to bring America in, via Roosevelt during two years of one hundred and fifty German bombers overhead.\u00a0 The cruelty of the Blitz, and the nightly raids which killed thousands of Brits is particularly relevant in the age of CV.\u00a0 There are indeed worse things.<\/p>\n

Framed\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/h2>\n

Why Michael Skakel spent over a decade in prison for a murder he didn\u2019t commit.<\/em><\/p>\n

Robert F. Kennedy sent me this, because, unbelievably, the murder of Martha Moxley took place during the first ever broadcast of Monty Python\u2019s Flying Circus on PBS in 1975 and several of the protagonists were racing home to watch it.\u00a0 More importantly, I was convinced by this book that a major injustice took place, prodded by Dominik Dunne and Mark Fuhrman the OJ Cop, when Michael Skakel was suddenly accused of and shockingly convicted of the murder three decades later, despite never having been a suspect and having a cast iron alibi.\u00a0 I think he is out now.\u00a0 I hope so.<\/p>\n

Vegas\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Gregory Dunne<\/h2>\n

A Memoir of a Dark Season<\/em><\/p>\n

I have been searching for years for this book and I finally found it at the Pasadena Book Fair. It was certainly worth the search.\u00a0 A very fine semi-autobiographical novel of a writer and his nervous breakdown in Vegas. Sharp, funny and sometimes cruel.\u00a0 I loved it.<\/p>\n

February<\/u><\/h1>\n

The Hunchback of Notre Dame\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Victor Hugo<\/h2>\n

I\u2019d forgotten just what a damn good writer Hugo was.\u00a0 The French Dickens.\u00a0 This abridged version was really good.\u00a0 Completely captivated me.\u00a0 Musical anyone?<\/p>\n

Frankissstein\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeanette Winterson<\/h2>\n

Lake Geneva 1816 and Mary Shelley is writing her classic on a wet weekend in Switzerland with Byron and Shelley and meanwhile in Brexit Britain a man is making robotic sex toys<\/p>\n

The Man in the Red Coat\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Barnes<\/h2>\n

Much as I love him he didn\u2019t grab me with this odd tale of a bunch of Frogs in Angleterre in the summer of 1885. The Belle Epoch in London and of course very gay Paree.<\/p>\n

January<\/u><\/h1>\n

A Very Stable Genius\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Rucker & Carol Leonnig<\/h2>\n

A fine book on the Orange Monster.\u00a0 But after a while I no longer wanted to continue reading about how crazy this terrible tyrant is and I put it away.\u00a0 He is making everyone nuts.\u00a0 Poor America. Will it ever recover?\u00a0 The Trump Presidential Library is going to consist of nothing but books exposing what an insane malignant narcissist can do to democracy, when tutored by Putin and Roy Cohn.<\/p>\n

The Catch\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron<\/h2>\n

He seems to be very good at these short novellas, perhaps inspired by Simenon.\u00a0 This is great.<\/p>\n

Maigret and Monsieur Charles\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon.<\/h2>\n

Another brilliant one.\u00a0 The great thing about the novella is it\u2019s hard to run out of steam, as so many novels do.\u00a0 Even great ones.<\/p>\n

Serotonin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michel Houellebecq<\/h2>\n

The same bleak view from a loser.\u00a0 Compelling writing and total honesty.<\/p>\n

Pal Joey\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John O\u2019Hara<\/h2>\n

Wonderful short letters from a Chicago nightclub singer to a better.\u00a0\u00a0 Became the basis for the Rogers and Hart musical.<\/p>\n

Rogue Lawyer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Grisham<\/h2>\n

Fine character.\u00a0 A rogue lawyer.\u00a0 Really interesting and very well told. I had picked up a large priont format but it was already very easy to read.<\/p>\n

Maigret Hesitates\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

\u2026but not for long.\u00a0 Slight resemblance to another story of his, where he learns in advance a crime is to be committed. This one really surprises him and he hesitates to call the outcome.<\/p>\n

More Than Likely\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais<\/h2>\n

Fabulous memoirs from the two great writers (and Director). I loved every second of it.<\/p>\n

Likely Lads, Porridge, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2019<\/h2>\n

Command Option 1 \/ 2 \/ 3<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Christmas Gifts.<\/p>\n

December<\/u><\/h1>\n

Agent Running in the Field\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

Interestingly he seems to be writing a corrective to Nick Herron\u2019s Slough House series\u2026also it seems to be about the agent runner being seduced.\u00a0\u00a0 One might say penetrated.\u00a0 But hard to tell so far.<\/p>\n

The Two Faces of January\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

So often her novels concern two characters (usually men) circling each other, the one trying to murder the other. The would-be victim usually triumphs, often by killing his assassin, but in this particular long and complicated dance of death set in Greece, a young American aids and abets a rather nastier American in covering up a murder because he looks like his father, <\/em>the intended victim saves his would be murderer from the Police.<\/p>\n

Those Who Walk Away\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

A study in no revenge.\u00a0 Set largely in Venice, a man will not kill or expose his father in law, after his very young wife has committed suicide in Majorca.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Only Life\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ash Carter and Sam Kashner<\/h2>\n

Mike Nichols in quotes from his 150 closest friends.\u00a0 Witty, brilliant and I wrote notes all over it.<\/p>\n

Talking to Strangers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Malcolm Gladwell<\/h2>\n

Misunderstandings and how to understand them and what they tell us about how we work.\u00a0 Or don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Another fine book from the finest current essayist.<\/p>\n

Grand Union\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Zadie Smith.<\/h2>\n

What can I say?\u00a0 I adore her.\u00a0 Favourites:\u00a0 Downtown<\/em> is wonderful and\u00a0 Miss Adele Amidst the Corsets <\/em>is wonderfully funny.<\/p>\n

Maigret\u2019s Patience\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

A recurring character is bumped off.<\/p>\n

The Madman of Bergerac \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

A very good one.\u00a0 Maigret jumps on a train and is almost bumped off.\u00a0 Who is the madman??<\/p>\n

How fortunate am I to have two novelists married to each other, sending me their work.<\/p>\n

November<\/u><\/h1>\n

Winter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ali Smith.<\/h2>\n

Some discussion about how good we think this quartet is.\u00a0\u00a0 I didn\u2019t finish this one.<\/p>\n

Pity The Reader\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kurt Vonnegut & Suzanne McConnell<\/h2>\n

On writing with style, from a master, nicely interpreted and linked. Finely chosen and edited.\u00a0 Excellent advice for writers.<\/p>\n

Dark Places\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gillian Flynn<\/h2>\n

An early novel about the sole survivor of a massacred family, as she grows up and deals with just what happened that night when her brother may have murdered her entire family.<\/p>\n

A Small Town\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

What joy to have a writer friend who sends you his latest thriller every year?\u00a0\u00a0 He always has a great premise.\u00a0\u00a0 Here a Prison Break devastates a nearby local town, and sets in motion a female cop with a million dollars bounty to destroy the twelve who plotted, murdered the officers, escaped, invaded the local town with murder rape and mayhem.\u00a0 And he returns to his Jane Whitefield books theme with a powerful female, tracking, hunting and in this case eliminating some really nasty people.<\/p>\n

Everything happens\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jo Perry<\/h2>\n

Even better is to have a writer friend married to another writer.\u00a0 I loved both books.\u00a0 Stepping away from her excellent Dead Dog series, this is a fine novel where everything happens at the end.\u00a0 It\u2019s very short and I could have taken a lot more.<\/p>\n

Queen Lucia. Part 1.\u00a0 Make Way for Lucia.\u00a0 E.F. Benson<\/h2>\n

Re-reading these wonderful books.\u00a0 Lucia and Georgie are surely two of the greatest comic inventions in literature.\u00a0 The book is exquisite, hilarious, and a delight.\u00a0 A Curry cook appears as a Guru to fool Miss Map and her rival acolytes. Exquisitely bitchy novels about life in home counties rural England.<\/p>\n

Camino Island\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Grisham<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m not a big Grisham fan.\u00a0 To me he writes like a lawyer.\u00a0 I abandoned this. I wrote earlier (1995) about him the rather cruel line that he is \u201cThe MacDonald\u2019s of writing.\u201d<\/p>\n

October<\/u><\/h1>\n

The Library Book Susan Orlean<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m afraid I put it back on the shelves.\u00a0 I might give it another go, a) because I was on pain killers and b) I think it should be better than it is and I don\u2019t want to misjudge it.\u00a0\u00a0 For me it\u2019s always about the writing.\u00a0 Are they good at writing a sentence? \u00a0Compare any page of this to Salman Rushdie\u2019s latest novel and you\u2019ll see the difference.\u00a0 Salman\u2019s prose sparkles.\u00a0 It feels effortless, which of course indicates a great deal of effort went into it. I know that\u2019s not fair because Salman is a genius. I think it\u2019s the shape that she\u2019s chosen and I might dip into and see why it doesn\u2019t grab me when I like everything about the story.<\/p>\n

Maigret\u2019s Anger\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Maigret is perplexed by the murder of a nightclub owner, which threatens his reputation.<\/p>\n

The Captain and the Glory\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dave Eggers<\/h2>\n

The rather wonderful Dave Eggers sent me a copy of his latest book.\u00a0 He dispatched the text to me in the summer and I giggled happily through the entire, though rather short, fable, about an ignorant, vain, hopelessly inadequate, newly appointed Captain of a ship. I can’t imagine who he had in mind.\u00a0 I found it hilarious, and I sent him a quote, not just because he wonderfully interviewed me about my Sortabiography in San Francisco last year, but because I thought he successfully lampooned the Idiot in Chief where many I think have failed.\u00a0\u00a0 They allow their hatred into their writing.\u00a0 Here he just gently, mildly mocks and it is so much more deadly.\u00a0 He had me laughing out loud.\u00a0 Not an easy thing to achieve. I hope it does well. The Trump Presidential Library will be a room filled with books about what a useless, treasonable, shite he is.\u00a0 A new book drops every day.\u00a0 Dave\u2019s is different. It\u2019s funny.\u00a0 I think Trump is funny, though dangerously so.<\/p>\n

Quichotte\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Salman Rushdie<\/h2>\n

An exquisite read.\u00a0 Salman at the top of his game.\u00a0\u00a0 His writing is delightful.\u00a0 His take on Quixote is brilliant.\u00a0 I shall re-read it soon.<\/p>\n

Offshore\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penelope Fitzgerald<\/h2>\n

The Booker Prize winner from 1979.\u00a0 A perfect short novel.\u00a0 Entirely built up with close character observations of all the outsiders who live on the boats at Chelsea Reach.\u00a0 Delightful, less is so more.\u00a0 I was happy to read it again, and would again.<\/p>\n

Joe Country\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron<\/h2>\n

A Slough House novel.\u00a0 The 8th<\/sup> in this series about the losers at Slow House.\u00a0\u00a0 Great characters.\u00a0 I think I\u2019ve read every word he wrote.<\/p>\n

The Beginning of Spring\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penelope Fitzgerald.<\/h2>\n

A Moscow novel set in 1913.\u00a0 Interesting but not perfect.<\/p>\n

July thru September<\/u><\/h1>\n

My Purple Scented Novel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian McEwan<\/h2>\n

Short, little novella.\u00a0\u00a0 About revenge.\u00a0\u00a0 Of the literary kind.\u00a0 A tiny book which packs a punch.<\/p>\n

Hapgood\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Stoppard<\/h2>\n

A play about Nils Bohr and Quantum Theory.\u00a0 first produced in 1988. It is mainly about espionage, focusing on a British female spymaster (Hapgood) and her juggling of career and motherhood.<\/p>\n

Jean de Florette\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Manon Les Sources.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Marcel Pagnon.<\/h2>\n

Lovely French novels about the search for spring water in the south of France.<\/p>\n

Read in French.<\/p>\n

Written on the Body\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeanette Winterson<\/h2>\n

A very fine writer.\u00a0 I love her work.<\/p>\n

City of Light, City of Poison\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Holly Tucker<\/h2>\n

Abandoned.\u00a0 Rather been down this Louisiana track recently.<\/p>\n

The Cartel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don Winslow.<\/h2>\n

Part Two of the epic trilogy.\u00a0 Totally gripping.<\/p>\n

White Teeth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Zadie Smith<\/h2>\n

I love her.\u00a0 This was the first.\u00a0 Happy to catch up.<\/p>\n

Ravelstein\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saul Bellow<\/h2>\n

Ravelstein is Saul Bellow’s final novel. Published in 2000, when Bellow was eighty-five years old, it received widespread critical acclaim.\u00a0 It tells the tale of a friendship between a university professor and a writer, and the complications that animate their erotic and intellectual attachments in the face of impending death. The novel is a\u00a0roman \u00e0 clef<\/a>\u00a0written in the form of a memoir. The narrator is in Paris with Abe Ravelstein, a renowned professor, and Nikki, his lover. Ravelstein, who is dying, asks the narrator to write a memoir about him after he dies. After his death, the narrator and his wife go on holiday to the Caribbean. The narrator catches a tropical disease and flies back to the United States to convalesce. Eventually, on recuperation, he decides to write the memoir.<\/p>\n

The Smiley Trilogy.<\/u><\/h2>\n

Great re-reading.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0John Le Carr\u00e9 <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Honourable Schoolboy. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Smiley\u2019s People.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9 <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Unsteady Captain\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dave Eggers<\/h2>\n

Dave Eggers sent me this book.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMr. Idle \u2014Hope the summer\u2019s been good to you and yours. No obligation to read this, but given your interest in politics and humor I thought I\u2019d send this. After trying many thousands of ways to address this horrible time, I wrote a sort-of satire. Maybe it\u2019s some kind of distant cousin to Hello Sailor. Do not bother with it unless you are very bored or somewhat medicated.<\/p>\n

In other news, I hope you are well.\u201d<\/p>\n

I replied:\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s fucking hysterical. I was concerned at the beginning because a writer I admire\u00a0failed to make a funny Trump book work. \u00a0There was too much hatred. I think what you got exactly right and why it works so well is the tone. \u00a0The form of the narrative. \u00a0It doesn\u2019t seem to comment while delivering hundreds of brilliant back handers. \u00a0It\u2019s a kind of naive narrative \u201cOh and then this happened\u201d as if it were all perfectly normal. \u00a0For instance when we find out they haven\u2019t yet left port. \u00a0Both the metaphor and the story play perfectly together. You manage to conceal every gag, which means for example, when you deliver the daughter gag, we hadn\u2019t actually seen it coming. \u00a0The first essential with comedy. I laughed out loud so frequently I was amazed because I\u2019m not that easy to make laugh out loud.<\/p>\n

Hotel World. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ali Smith<\/h2>\n

Hotel World is divided into five sections. The first section, \u201cPast\u201d tells the story of Sara Wilby\u00a0 The second part, “Present Historic”, is about a homeless girl (Else) begging for money outside the Hotel. The \u201cFuture Conditional\u201d, the third section of the novel, Lise, a receptionist. The fourth part is \u201cPerfect\u201d with its far from perfect character Penny. The fifth section of the novel titled \u201cFuture in the Past,\u201d is entirely Clare\u2019s memories on the life and death of her sister Sara. \u201cPresent\u201d is the title of the last part of the novel.<\/p>\n

The Constant Gardener\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

is a 2001\u00a0novel<\/a>\u00a0by British author\u00a0John le Carr\u00e9<\/a>. The novel tells the story of Justin Quayle, a British diplomat whose\u00a0activist<\/a>\u00a0wife is murdered. Believing there is something behind the murder, he seeks to uncover the truth and finds an international\u00a0conspiracy<\/a>\u00a0of corrupt bureaucracy and pharmaceutical money. The plot was based on a\u00a0real-life case in Kano, Nigeria<\/a>. The book was later adapted into a\u00a0feature film<\/a>\u00a0in 2005.<\/p>\n

Ripley Underground\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

Instantly addictive.\u00a0 Binge novel reading.\u00a0 I downloaded the next on Kindle.\u00a0 I needed it now. She writes about the killing in the same low key uncommitted way she does about everything.\u00a0\u00a0 Brilliant.\u00a0\u00a0 Only now and again she lets Ripley\u2019s underlying hysteria and madness bubble through, like a barely controlled manic episode.\u00a0 In this he has a French wife and lives just beyond Orly.\u00a0 She repeats her themes of killing and impersonating here, with a twist, when Tom disguises himself as a dead painter, whose work they have been forging, with the legend he is in Mexico. An American collector suspect his is a forgery.\u00a0 Actually they are all forgeries.\u00a0\u00a0 The painter makes an assault on Tom.\u00a0\u00a0 There is a whole second story about the German fence.<\/p>\n

June<\/u><\/h1>\n

The Talented Mr. Ripley \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

A classic.\u00a0 A young man of almost no morals, virtually borderline, escapes his low key tax fraud scam, by being sent to Italy to rescue Dickie Greenleaf, the son of a millionaire boat designer.\u00a0 The switch from picturesque into sinister is done so effortlessly you realise you are in the hands of the very talented Ms. Highsmith.<\/p>\n

Normal People\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sally Rooney<\/h2>\n

I found this also to be genius.\u00a0 A beautiful book, of an unspoken lifelong romance.\u00a0 She\u2019s only 28 for heaven sake, but what a gift.\u00a0\u00a0 Just delightful.\u00a0 Romantic and yet very modern.<\/p>\n

Autumn\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ali Smith<\/h2>\n

A quite brilliant opening to a promised quartet of novels, my how this lady can write.\u00a0 Buy more, soon.<\/p>\n

Maigret and the Reluctant Witness\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

A strange, uptight wealthy family close ranks when the scion is suddenly murdered.<\/p>\n

Cley\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carey Harrison<\/h2>\n

The second in a quite brilliant quartet of books by this masterful novelist, author and dramatist.<\/p>\n

Siege:\u00a0 Trump under fire.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Wollf<\/h2>\n

As gripping and as good as his Under Fire<\/em> which exposed the chaos in the Trump Shite House.\u00a0 This shows the crumbling of the man\u2019s mind.\u00a0 Everyone who meets him and works for him thinks he\u2019s a moron.\u00a0 A really must-read look inside the President\u2019s mind.\u00a0 Once again Bannon contributes largely to the understanding of what is going on.,<\/p>\n

There There\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tommy Orange<\/h2>\n

Finely written from a new writer.\u00a0\u00a0 The Native American experience in Oakland and beyond.\u00a0\u00a0 Good characters.\u00a0\u00a0 Short stories melded into a novel.<\/p>\n

The Whistler\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Grisham<\/h2>\n

A corrupt Judge in Florida aids an Indian Gambling Casino Crime Mob.\u00a0 Efficient.\u00a0 Readable.<\/p>\n

Live a Little\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Howard Jacobson<\/h2>\n

Falling in love at the end of your life.<\/p>\n

Maigret and the Ghost\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Strangely interesting people live opposite the scene of a crime.\u00a0 Wealthy, corrupt and maybe guilty of something.<\/p>\n

May. <\/u><\/h1>\n

The Moving Target\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ross MacDonald<\/h2>\n

1949 noir detective thriller reprinted recently.\u00a0 A good example of the genre and quite readable if not the best.<\/p>\n

A Separate Peace\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Knowles<\/h2>\n

I tried twice to read this novel and though both times I got more than two thirds through I never finished it, so I\u2019d have to say it\u2019s two thirds good.<\/p>\n

The Woman in the Window\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A. J. Finn<\/h2>\n

A wonderful thriller.\u00a0 Beautifully constructed and written, like a cinema noir.\u00a0 Impossible to put down.<\/p>\n

Maigret Defends Himself\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Impeccable.\u00a0\u00a0 For once Maigret finds out what it is like to be investigated.\u00a0\u00a0 I love the way he occasionally plays with form and the expectations of his readers.<\/p>\n

Maigret\u2019s Patience\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Almost a sequel in that it features two characters from the previous book, the gangster whom Maigret suspects of being involved in the ongoing jewellery heists, and his love the ex-hooker.<\/p>\n

The Kindly Ones \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Powell<\/h2>\n

Book Six in this very long sequence of novels A Dance to The Music of Time<\/em>, and this time I really sat this one out\u2026<\/p>\n

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs\u00a0\u00a0 Steve Brusatte<\/h2>\n

I found there was a little more of the author and his pals and a little less of the dinosaurs than I needed so I abandoned ship.<\/p>\n

Maigret\u2019s Doubts\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

One of his best.\u00a0 Again another one where he plays with form and expectation.\u00a0 In this one Maigret begins to investigate before there is any crime.<\/p>\n

The Battle of Arnhem\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Beevor<\/h2>\n

One of Monty\u2019s most inglorious moments and a lesson in the arrogance of power.\u00a0\u00a0 Strange how the English seem to treasure their defeats the most.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This amazingly detailed retelling of the disastrous plan to drop paratroopers to destroy the bridges (as portrayed in the movie A Bridge Too Far<\/em>) is a lesson in the jealousy of commanders.\u00a0\u00a0 Monty wanted to be the first to attack Germany.\u00a0 He manipulated Eisenhower and the Americans, keeping them in the dark.\u00a0 The big losers were not just the poor old paratroops but the Dutch who were seen by the Germans to support this Allied liberation and were punished as they withdrew.<\/p>\n

Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump.\u00a0\u00a0 Rick Reilly<\/h2>\n

Everything you ever needed to know about the deranged liar in the White House: he\u2019s a man who cheats all the time at golf.\u00a0\u00a0 All the time. Hilarious.\u00a0\u00a0 Revealing.\u00a0 Nicely written by someone who cares deeply about the Sport and who has played with him.\u00a0 The best description of how to understand the weird person who has taken over the country.\u00a0\u00a0 Hilarious and then when you think of it, very scary.\u00a0 But a must read. Please somebody call a Doctor, he shouldn\u2019t be in charge of anything.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The most fun I have is browsing book shops.\u00a0 Sometimes I pick well and sometimes not. This particular weekend I came back from Vromans with four books:<\/em><\/p>\n

Machines Like Me\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian McEwan<\/h2>\n

..which I knew within two pages I wouldn\u2019t complete.\u00a0 I\u2019m not mad on sci fi but the opening scene seemed to be one I\u2019ve seen in at least two movies:\u00a0 plugging the humanoid android in.\u00a0 I like him very much as a writer and the only ones of his books I don\u2019t like are always hugely popular so this should be huge for him.<\/p>\n

White \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brett Easton Ellis<\/h2>\n

\u2026which I knew nothing about.\u00a0\u00a0 I didn\u2019t even know it wasn\u2019t a novel, but I instantly adored it.\u00a0 A wonderful book of memoirs and thoughts and essays and above all honesty.\u00a0 Great writing.\u00a0 Very readable and enjoyable.\u00a0 Taking to task political correction, and despite his unfortunate love for the Trump monster which goes back to his character\u2019s obsession with him in the novel American Psycho<\/em> he has interesting observations on whether the violence in that book is real or imagined.\u00a0\u00a0 So of course I had to read..<\/p>\n

American Psycho\u00a0 Brett Easton Ellis<\/h2>\n

I found this novel very original and startling.\u00a0 Every character is described as if in a photo shoot from GQ with minute magazine-style details on what they are wearing, which is highly original and gives the book great stylishness.\u00a0 Of course the violence is sickening, but I much preferred this to Crime and Punishment.<\/em>\u00a0 And it makes sense they all adore Trump.\u00a0 This is the Reagan eighties of Wall Street and champagne, cocaine and money-making.\u00a0\u00a0 In a sense you can read it as a satire, though I think he is deadly serious.\u00a0 Some things are very funny, like no one quite knowing anyone\u2019s name, the coke-fuelled conversations with everyone talking and nobody listening, the narcissistic world of Personal Vanity Fair, Les Mis posters and references everywhere and Shopping Guides, define a world where New Yorkers are defined by their wealth, their personal income and what they wear.\u00a0 Published in 1991 it seems to be very relevant again.<\/p>\n

Maigret\u2019s Patience\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

One of the finest of his novellas.\u00a0\u00a0 Impeccable.<\/p>\n

April<\/u><\/h1>\n

The Greengage Summer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rumer Godden<\/h2>\n

I had heard of her but never read her.\u00a0 I found this 1958 original edition in my shelves, along with a contemporary Quantas menu (!) and found it to be utterly delightful.\u00a0 It could be called Five go-a-feral in France but actually it is far more serious, though set in a child\u2019s world, when a family go on holiday in Les Oillets on the Marne.\u00a0 Losing their mother to a Hospital in illness they must cope with a grown up and quite different French world from their English middle class home, where far more is going on than they can understand.\u00a0\u00a0 Beautifully narrated by the second oldest girl (13) it is exquisitely written and pretty much covers everything.\u00a0 Delicious as the greengages.\u00a0\u00a0 And still in print.<\/p>\n

The Old Drift\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Namwali Serpell<\/h2>\n

A young new Zambian writer spans the history between Livingstone\u2019s falls and modern day Zambia and pretty much everything in between:\u00a0 Independence, Kaunda, Communism, Revolution.\u00a0\u00a0 Very finely written and excellent story-telling, she teaches at Berkeley.<\/p>\n

Love and Other Impossible Pursuits\u00a0 Ayelet Waldman<\/h2>\n

A brilliant, beautiful book that I devoured at one sitting. About the difficulties of being a step mother.\u00a0 Each single character plays a part in the totally unexpected outcome.\u00a0\u00a0 Marvellously crafted and magnificently written.<\/p>\n

Doing Justice\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Preet Bharara<\/h2>\n

Unexpectedly well written and delightfully informative I would never have expected to so have enjoyed this book and learned so much from it.\u00a0 It was a gift I loved.<\/p>\n

Richard\u2019s Feet\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carey Harrison<\/h2>\n

To come across a masterpiece is rare enough, but one written by an old friend is truly a delight.\u00a0 He wrote this in 1990 and I have remained quite ignorant of it until now.\u00a0 As I wrote to him: \u201cI find your prose so readable.\u00a0 \u00a0Strong, virile, sensitive, descriptive, subjective, passive-historical and at times so fucking funny.\u201d\u00a0 It is a fabulous novel. \u00a0Marvellously it is a Quartet and I have the other three still to savour.<\/p>\n

Metropolis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

It made me so sad to receive this his last book in the mail.\u00a0 But it\u2019s a Bernie Gunther and set in the Weimar republic, just as the Nazis are becoming what they so unpleasantly became, and so of course I loved it, pausing occasionally to mourn the loss of this wonderful author and kind man whom I was lucky enough to meet briefly.<\/p>\n

Provence 1970\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Luke Barr<\/h2>\n

Another great read which I couldn\u2019t put down.\u00a0\u00a0 In 1970 M. F. K. Fisher met Julia Child and James Beard in Provence, almost by chance.\u00a0\u00a0 This lovely book, so well written by her nephew, tells the tale of how these great American tastemakers, got on, or didn\u2019t, how they cooked for one another, what they thought of it, and how their experiences in France revolutionised American taste.\u00a0 Quite by chance, and unnoticed in the book, a young Englishman arrived in Provence only a year later\u2026<\/p>\n

A Time of Gifts\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patrick Leigh Fermor<\/h2>\n

Just before World War Two a young man sets out on foot from England bound for Constantinople. Writing the most exquisite prose in his diaries he tells the tale of all the weird and wonderful things he sees and feels en route, in a world just about to collapse and disappear for ever in World War Two.\u00a0 Impossible not to want to re-read.\u00a0 This was my second go.<\/p>\n

Elvis in Vegas\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Zoglin<\/h2>\n

A thoroughly enjoyable and fascinating tale of the many stages of Vegas, and how its constant state of change has continued to the present day.\u00a0\u00a0 Also just how big an influence Elvis was.<\/p>\n

The Tailor of Panama. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

Re-reading this novel several things became clear:\u00a0 first how similar the idea of Harry Pendel recruiting phony sources in his mind to turn in to Osnard his unwanted handler, is to Scobie recruiting fake spies in Our Man in Havana<\/em>\u00a0 and then how similar JLC and Graham Greene\u2019s fathers were.\u00a0 Both men, semi-criminal dubious fantasists, who would pluck them out of school and even steal them from school\u00a0 (Single and Single<\/em>)\u00a0 and then I remembered Dickens shameless cozener of a dad and wondered if this wasn\u2019t the very making of a novelist. \u00a0In the former two, spying adds another level of deceit to the original sense of betrayal.<\/p>\n

March<\/u><\/h1>\n

Hamlet\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Shakespeare<\/h2>\n

Still the greatest play, and then I had to go back to reading\u2026<\/p>\n

Will in the World\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Greenblatt<\/h2>\n

\u2026.the essential book on Shakespeare.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s nice to bounce between the plays and the book.<\/p>\n

Caddyshack\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chris Nashawaty<\/h2>\n

The making of a movie I have yet to see.. but an interesting early history of Doug Kenney and the National Lampoon and meeting Matty Simmons, several of whom I knew, for instance Michael O\u2019 Donahue. I missed Lemmings <\/em>\u00a0though Python had to ask them to stop doing our Custard Pie sketch which Tony Hendra had given them.\u00a0 I remember going to see The National Lampoon Show<\/em> at the Palladium New York in the Spring of 1975, with Terry Gilliam, and there I saw and met for the first time John Belushi (a little awed by meeting two Pythons), Bill Murray and the adorable Gilda Radner.\u00a0 It was a very funny show and we hung out for a while.\u00a0 This is before SNL began.\u00a0 Happy Days.<\/p>\n

Before The Fall\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Noah Hawley<\/h2>\n

Another very fine novel by the showrunner of Fargo. <\/em>\u00a0A gripping modern novel, which reminded me a little of Tom Wolfe.\u00a0 No, not his silly kerpang prose but his clear look at modern business types. The tragedy of City Man.\u00a0 His view of society and money which I suppose has been a major subject of the novel since E. M. Forster.\u00a0 Here in an intensely page-turning read, a plane crash triggers the complex reactions of the modern New York world from the corrupt Fox-like News to its appalling, tasteless, terrible heroes, the mercifully now defunct O\u2019Reilly.\u00a0 Both finely satirical and deeply moving and very enjoyable.<\/p>\n

The Power of the Dog\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don Winslow<\/h2>\n

Totally gripping and compelling first part of an extraordinary trilogy about the US and the drugs and arms trafficking world.\u00a0 Set in the Nineties, the characters interweave through complex story layers, both in New York, California and South America,\u00a0 and there is a lot about the Reagan Contra World.\u00a0 Page turning, thrillingly written, I have the other two standing by!\u00a0 I loved his California Fire and Ice<\/em>, and have since let him fall from my radar, but he\u2019s back and glowing brightly.<\/p>\n

Stoner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Williams<\/h2>\n

A simply brilliant novel from 1965.\u00a0 Flawless prose.\u00a0 Every single word is precise and eloquent. \u00a0Hardly a sentence too many and yet generations pass before our eyes.\u00a0 The book really asks the question : what is it to be successful in life?\u00a0\u00a0 What constitutes a good life? \u00a0And the answer is simple and clear:\u00a0 living honestly, working hard and trying to love.\u00a0 To enjoy the love of your metier:\u00a0 in this case teaching. To enjoy the love of another human being:\u00a0 in this case it\u2019s not his wife, and to be loyal to the right things \u2013 not pro patria but pro humanitas, in this case loyalty to and love for a University. Wholly unexpected and totally enjoyable.\u00a0 I think I picked the tip up from Michael Chabon.\u00a0 Pass it on.<\/p>\n

Maigret in Court\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon.<\/h2>\n

Thoughts from Maigret, Simenon\u2019s alter ego, which I think reveal what he tries to do as a novelist. \u201cEven today, he knew that he was only giving a lifeless, simplified picture.\u00a0 Everything he had just said was true, but he hadn\u2019t conveyed the full weight of things, their density, their texture, their smell.\u201d<\/p>\n

Killing Commendatore\u00a0\u00a0 Haruki Murukami<\/h2>\n

I got some way into this then abandoned.\u00a0\u00a0 It happens to me with a lot of his books.\u00a0 It\u2019s when he moves from Reality into Fantasy.\u00a0\u00a0 I lose interest.<\/p>\n

Bad Blood\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Carreyrou<\/h2>\n

Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Start-up.\u00a0\u00a0 Totally gripping tale of Theranos and its intriguing, utterly self-confident, strangely weird founder Elizabeth Holmes.\u00a0\u00a0 An excellent and revealing read and a reminder how newspapers can still save us from the Liars and the Lies they tell\u2026<\/p>\n

A Time of Gifts\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patrick Leigh Fermor<\/h2>\n

The finest English prose you\u2019ll ever encounter.\u00a0 This 19 year old misfit walked out of Britain in 1933 with the aim of reaching Constantinople.\u00a0 This is his diary of his amazing adventures and his for all time description of Europe before it closed for Fascism.<\/p>\n

No Bones\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anna Burns<\/h2>\n

The debut of this year\u2019s Booker winner.\u00a0 She manages to be both bleak and satirical at the same time, as well as the finest prose writer.<\/p>\n

Dead is Beautiful\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jo Perry<\/h2>\n

The third and probably the best in this unique series about a dead man and his dog.\u00a0 I love her writing and I love the extraordinarily original setting of a detective ghost story.\u00a0 Amazingly clever and deeply satisfying.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

February<\/u><\/h1>\n

No Chip on my Shoulder\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eric Maschwitz<\/h2>\n

(1957.)\u00a0 I have been looking for this book for some time, ever since I learned about Eric Maschwitz in Robert Hewison\u2019s book about The Footlights.\u00a0 <\/em>A former member, he wrote the lyrics for two great songs: \u201cThese foolish things\u201d and \u201cA Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.\u00a0\u00a0 He married the hilarious Hermione Gingold, joined the BBC, wrote musicals, then went out to Hollywood, playing tennis with Cary Grant, before returning to England for WW2, and ending up as Head of the BBC.\u00a0 We eventually found the book in the LA Public Library but disappointingly it contained hardly any details about the story that intrigued me, that he used the Footlights as cover for an operation against the Nazis.\u00a0 He draws a veil over this alas.\u00a0 Pity.<\/p>\n

Wild and Crazy Guys\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nick de Semlyen<\/h2>\n

An interesting book about the SNL alumni who went out to Hollywood and changed if not the face then the nose of Hollywood.\u00a0 Since I knew most of these guys and was often around some of their movies (e.g. Blues Brothers in Chicago) it was fascinating for me.\u00a0\u00a0 Belushi, Aykroyd, Chevy, Murray, Eddie Murphy, and the SCTV alums, John Candy, Marty Short, Rick Moranis \u2013 they made a lot of movies and a lot of money.<\/p>\n

Bookends\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Chabon<\/h2>\n

At the beginning of the book he identifies a set of \u201cpeople who do not read introductions\u201d amongst whom I would have included myself, but I happily basked in him writing about the books contained here, and I immediately subscribed to almost all of them, most of which were entirely unknown to me.\u00a0 Of course he seems incapable of writing a dull sentence, and his prose glitters with gems, amongst which I loved \u201cthe past is another planet\u201d and \u201cIt reveals the fundamental truth of the universe: that the fundamental truth of the universe will remain forever concealed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maigret and the Good People of Montparnasse. Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

I discovered towards the end I had read it before.\u00a0 Oops.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I keep this diary, but I can\u2019t for the life of me find any reference to it, so I guess I forgot to record it.<\/p>\n

Wrecked\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joe Ide<\/h2>\n

An IQ novel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The third by this fascinating local writer and he\u2019s really getting into his stride. I found the opening few chapters to be utterly fabulous and unexpectedly hilarious.\u00a0 Impossible to keep up such expectations, but still a very good yarn indeed.<\/p>\n

Somebody\u2019s Darling\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Larry McMurtry<\/h2>\n

I am constantly impressed by his writing.\u00a0 By the time he came to write this in 1978 he had already written Terms of Endearment, the Last Picture Show and Horseman Pass by..\u00a0 I thought this an absolutely brilliant Hollywood novel, but then he went and switched horses in the last third, changing the narrator unexpectedly from the man to the women and without any warning which I felt absolutely took the wind out of the book and confused and annoyed me. \u00a0Nevertheless he can really write.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

January<\/u><\/h1>\n

The Spy and The Traitor\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ben Macintyre<\/h2>\n

I felt this was an article at book length.\u00a0 I wanted the skinny and abandoned the fatty.<\/p>\n

Maigret and the Tramp\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

A very nice one.\u00a0 Maigret is sentimental about a tramp under a bridge, assaulted, but by whom?\u00a0\u00a0 Who assaults tramps? he asks, in less violent times.\u00a0\u00a0 Reminding us that the streets were not always filled with the homeless sleeping rough.<\/p>\n

A History of France\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Julius Norwich<\/h2>\n

A splendid and informative and not too long canter through French history.\u00a0 Very enjoyable.\u00a0 I\u2019m very sad he himself just entered history, and since his father was Duff Cooper he joins his Dad in the pages about the Twentieth Century and France.\u00a0 Very readable.<\/p>\n

Casanova\u2019s Chinese Restaurant.\u00a0 Anthony Powell<\/h2>\n

Being the fifth episode of the rather magnificent epic series of twelve novels A Dance to the Music of Time <\/em>first published in the fifties and sixties. I\u2019m slowly working my way through for the second time. Hope I finish before I\u2019m finished.<\/p>\n

Maigret\u2019s Secret\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m so grateful to Penguin for their monthly publishing of new translations of this extraordinary writer.<\/p>\n

They are novella length and are just perfect for palate cleansing between longer works, and any plane journey, or just popping in your pocket while you wait for something.\u00a0 As usual, weather sets the scene.\u00a0 Here Paris in the rain.\u00a0 I like the way he often changes the setting.\u00a0 Here Maigret recalls an old case in discussion with his friend Dr. Pardon, so you get two levels, the actual story of a murder, and Maigret reflecting on it.<\/p>\n

The Burglar\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

My all-time favorite with a new novel is cause for rejoicing in our household.\u00a0 How does he do it?\u00a0\u00a0 An annual treat.\u00a0 He has written so many great books and here comes another one\u2026<\/p>\n

Little Constructions\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anna Burns<\/h2>\n

An earlier work by the Booker Prize winner, she is so goddamn funny and so dark.\u00a0\u00a0 Plus she writes like a goddess.<\/p>\n

The Fifth Risk\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Lewis<\/h2>\n

Pretty compulsive reading, and should be compulsory really to understand the mess that one ignorant, vain, narcissistic, criminal can impose on America within days of starting taking office.\u00a0 Wonderfully clear and brilliant journalism of the problems of our times.\u00a0 The big take away is just how much the Government do for us which is purloined and used for profit by Reptards.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2018<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Command Option 1 \/ 2 \/ 3<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Christmas Books.<\/u><\/h1>\n

These were my Christmas gift selections\u2026.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth \u00a0 William Boyd
\nSwing Time \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Zadie Smith
\nChicago \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0David Mamet
\nIQ \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Joe Ide
\nThe Adventures of Augie March \u00a0\u00a0 Saul Bellow
\nThe Drop \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Mick Herron
\nSlow Horses \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Mick Herron<\/p>\n

December<\/u><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

This has been the year I discovered Mick Herron.<\/p>\n

There are two series of thrillers. The Slough House series, which is more modern Le Carr\u00e9 territory \u00a0and The Oxford series. I read both series in order.\u00a0 They are completely addictive.\u00a0 Perfect for the road. I began with Slough House and I recommend that to start.\u00a0 Welcome to the world of Jackson Lamb.<\/p>\n

I ended up with The Oxford Series,<\/em> which is also terrific and consists of:<\/p>\n

Down Cemetery Road\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron<\/h2>\n

The Last Voice You Hear\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron<\/h2>\n

Why We Die\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron<\/h2>\n

Reconstruction\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron<\/h2>\n

Wonderful.\u00a0 Just brilliant.\u00a0 Tense, taught and totally unexpected.\u00a0 Everything you\u2019d ever want in a thriller.\u00a0\u00a0 Set in Oxford, at a Nursery school, which ends up involving the Police and MI5.\u00a0\u00a0 A master of suspense at the top of his game.\u00a0 I thought this was magnificent.<\/p>\n

Smoke and Whispers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron<\/h2>\n

An Oxford novel.\u00a0 But this time Zoe Boehm is dead.\u00a0 Drowned in the River Thames.\u00a0 Or is she?\u00a0\u00a0 A masterly piece of character detective fiction.\u00a0\u00a0 He keeps you gripped to the page.\u00a0\u00a0 Absolutely addictive.\u00a0 Read one, read the lot.<\/p>\n

Nobody Walks\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron<\/h2>\n

A stand-alone book.\u00a0 But brilliant.\u00a0 Totally absorbing.\u00a0 I seem to have read everything.\u00a0 Such a joy to discover a new writer (to yourself) and to binge.\u00a0 I\u2019m sad because I seem to have done the lot in such a short space of time.\u00a0 I hope I missed something.<\/p>\n

Brief Answers to the Big Questions\u00a0 \u00a0 Stephen Hawking<\/h2>\n

My new Bible.\u00a0 Beautifully and very simply written, from lectures and talks, this is a mind blowing, very simple summation of what we believe to be true in the Universe.\u00a0 \u00a0It makes belief in a God created Universe somewhat simplistic.\u00a0 Many of the things described defy belief.\u00a0 I now give it to people.\u00a0 Don’t panic, there’s not an equation in sight.\u00a0 With an introduction by Eddie Redmayne and a very beautiful postscript by his daughter about his funeral which is both touching and amazing.<\/p>\n

Maigret Enjoys Himself\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

As always the perfect appetizer, or palate cleanser for longer reads.\u00a0 Maigret is on holiday but stays in Paris and can’t resist watching how his colleague Janvier goes about solving a crime.\u00a0 It’s his perspective on the reader who follows cases in the newspapers.\u00a0 One of those where he plays with form, this time allowing Maigret to follow the crime as a civilian.\u00a0 But with a bit better clue.<\/p>\n

Moonglow\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Chabon<\/h2>\n

I ran out of books and picked up this and the Doer in Sydney.\u00a0\u00a0 The hallmark of a great book is you can read it again.\u00a0 This was even better for the second time.\u00a0\u00a0 I find this a lot with this amazing author.\u00a0\u00a0 Basically about his (fictional really as he admits in the intro) maternal grandfather.\u00a0 It skirts a lot of territory, memorable chapters being about Werner von Braun and his attempted capture by the Americans at the end of the war, and his real involvement with the foul camp that kept the V2 running until almost the last month.\u00a0 The camp that killed more than the victims of the flying bomb which would soon become the Saturn rocket that would take America to the moon.\u00a0 He ends his days in an old peoples home in Florida searching for a Python.\u00a0 Funny, witty, exquisitely written, I was hooked once again from the start.<\/p>\n

This is what happened.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nick Herron.<\/h2>\n

Spy thriller.\u00a0 Or is it.\u00a0 Spoiler alerts.\u00a0 Latest thriller.\u00a0 Always surprising, always entertaining.<\/p>\n

About Grace.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Doer.<\/h2>\n

Running out of books in Sydney I picked up two I was fairly sure I\u2019d read, and re-read half of this before economising on my packing, knowing I have it at home.\u00a0 Very fine writing about a boy who dreams the short future.\u00a0 Bad things will happen.\u00a0 No one will believe you.<\/p>\n

Murder, Satanism and Infanticide at the Court of the Sun King. Anne Somerset<\/h2>\n

Reading on I Pad after enjoying the Netflix series Versailles.\u00a0\u00a0 It makes you want to discover whether it is all true.\u00a0 This one confirms the poisoning and is very interesting about the sexual activity.\u00a0 But of course it is France.\u00a0\u00a0 Nicely written and a good perspective on the most extraordinary of monarchs and his amazing creation of Versailles.\u00a0 The gap between the glittering court and the poverty of the over taxed peasantry would of course soon be closed by the Revolution.<\/p>\n

The Sun King \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nancy Mitford.<\/h2>\n

I picked up my old copy of this excellent history, and dipped into it.<\/p>\n

November<\/u><\/h1>\n

Milkman\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anna Burns<\/h2>\n

A very powerful, original, incredibly well-written and highly deserved winner of this year\u2019s Mann Booker Prize.\u00a0\u00a0 An interior monologue about a young girl in Northern Ireland during the troubles.\u00a0 Her skill in capturing the voice and the attitudes of a community under siege and locked into its prejudices, as the political ice slowly starts to melt and things begin to change is extraordinary.\u00a0 I found it gripping, fascinating, fresh and honest.<\/p>\n

The Age of Louis XIV\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Will & Ariel Durant<\/h2>\n

We had been watching Versailles<\/em> on Netflix and I was intrigued to know just how much was actual history.\u00a0 I knew many scenes were completely made up obviously, so I turned to the masters, Volume VIII of their incredible Story of Civilization,<\/strong> a complete set of which was presented to me by my wonderful Spamalot<\/em> Producer Bill Haber. Beautifully written this is the finest historical record ever and an amazing achievement.\u00a0 Louis\u2019 Age was of course 66, and he dies sadly, amidst the financial collapse of the gilded honeytrap he created to destroy the nobility.\u00a0 The Revolution would complete the work in only a few more years.<\/p>\n

The River in the Sky\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Clive James<\/h2>\n

A long epitaph poem by Clive musing about his own life and forthcoming death.\u00a0\u00a0 Torn between self-love and self-pity many parts of this are enjoyable, and many a complete giveaway of a desperate need for fame.\u00a0 Occasionally funny, occasionally moving, occasionally pretentious beyond belief, this is, what you feel, he would have liked someone to write about him.\u00a0 My feeling is that he was desperately jealous of everything said by the good and worthy about Christopher Hitchens at his funeral.\u00a0 He wanted all that said about him.\u00a0 The tragedy is they won\u2019t.\u00a0 A good hearted fellow, a serial adulterer, against all the odds he managed to stay with the beyond long-suffering Prue for all his life. Like his life, I enjoyed lots of it.<\/p>\n

Love is Blind\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd<\/h2>\n

After being blown away by his short stories his latest novel somewhat disappointed me.\u00a0 It\u2019s a romance.\u00a0 In the cinema sense.\u00a0\u00a0 Fascinating, and occasionally very moving, I never quite believed in this 19th<\/sup> Century tale of the love of an Edinburgh piano tuner for an enigmatic Russian beauty. Mainly, I failed to believe in her.\u00a0 And I often felt manipulated, in so far as things happened, because the plot needed them to happen.\u00a0 That\u2019s what I mean by cinema writing.\u00a0 It might make a very fine movie.\u00a0 I was never bored, I was engaged, until perhaps the last quarter, where I felt him thrashing around to find an end, and when he did it was pure movie writing.\u00a0 Novels are bloody hard work, and I often wish novelists would write the end first, because even the best of them tend to run out of steam.\u00a0 I think William Boyd is up there with the best of them, but this is not his best novel.<\/p>\n

The Gifts of Reading\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Macfarlane<\/h2>\n

Somewhere along my book tour, possibly Manchester, some fan slipped this tiny Penguin book into my hand.\u00a0 Like an idiot I signed it and tried to hand it back.\u00a0 Mercifully I took it away with me.\u00a0 It\u2019s tiny, delightful and extraordinary and one I shall continue to re-read and I thank the anonymous donor.<\/p>\n

\u201cBroadsword calling Danny Boy\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Geoff Dyer<\/h2>\n

An extraordinary book, musing on the movie Where Eagles Dare<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 Almost a scene by scene description of what happens in a movie I haven\u2019t seen, with Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood, it is hilarious, very witty, occasionally wonderful rude, and captures something quite original, managing to talk about telling a tale on the screen and how unreal that world usually is.\u00a0 I picked up a beautiful signed special edition published by and at Hatchards.\u00a0 One for the stocking.<\/p>\n

October<\/u><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

I spent this month largely on the road.\u00a0 So, I packed some preferences for travel, Maigret of course and some Mick Herron, the new essential travel companion for binge reading, but then, a superb discovery, that William Boyd has become my all-time favourite short story writer.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Spook Street\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron<\/em><\/h1>\n

This, the fifth in his Slough House series, was easily my favourite, intensely plotted and very well written, kept me happily entertained during a long trip across America and many changing scenes and airports and hotels.\u00a0 What a joy he is.\u00a0\u00a0 And so much as yet unread, waiting for me in the wings.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s such a pleasure to stumble on a new writer you\u2019re going to treasure.\u00a0 I began the month with him and ended it too.<\/p>\n

The Drop\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron<\/em><\/h1>\n

I found this at the end of the month in Waterstones and it was here almost before I was.\u00a0 Very impressive to shop on a Saturday in London and start reading on a Tuesday in California. Short and sweet and almost a tease, as I want to know more, but I like his short Maigret length novellas, like a good appetizers it whets without satiating the palate.\u00a0 Oo you pretentious git, says the inner editor.<\/p>\n

Maigret Travels\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Maigret out of his depth, a fish out of water, amongst the rich in a luxury Parisian hotel, with an attempted suicide by a countess and the sudden death of a billionaire.\u00a0 He is particularly good describing \u00a0his inadequate feelings in the strange backstage world of the hotel, while plodding on regardless with his investigation into what does not feel right to him.<\/p>\n

The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd<\/h2>\n

I stumbled across this book of short stories in Hatchards and was totally blown away.\u00a0\u00a0 I have never read a collection of stories like it.\u00a0 He was always good, but now seems to have evolved into the finest short story writer I have ever read.\u00a0 It was never my favourite form, but I devoured these, immediately bought the previous collection and then thoroughly enjoyed reading some of the earlier ones I remembered, such as On The Yankee Station, and Nathalie X now republished in a more recent collection as:<\/p>\n

The Dream Lover \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd<\/h2>\n

I re-read these.\u00a0\u00a0 This is what I wrote before.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThese funny, surprising and moving stories are a resounding confirmation of Boyd’s powers as one of our most original and compelling storytellers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fascination\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd.<\/h2>\n

I enjoyed this, the second recent collection, even more than the republished older ones.\u00a0\u00a0 They seem to come out of nowhere with so much detail and precision, I found them over-whelmingly great. Powerful, germane, and almost out of nowhere.\u00a0\u00a0 Impressive and extremely enjoyable.<\/p>\n

\u00a0September<\/u><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

My reading has become very desultory and random.\u00a0 I pick up and put down books.\u00a0 \u00a0I can\u2019t settle in to anything.\u00a0 I can\u2019t tell if this is just a phase, as I prepare to head out on the task of selling my own.\u00a0\u00a0 The last serious book I read was Herzog and even that I discarded.\u00a0 Is this Reader\u2019s Block?\u00a0 I became obsessed with that gag in the last novel I wrote; at least I hope it was the last novel I\u2019ll write.\u00a0 You deserve at least that.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t even printed, a download.\u00a0\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t half bad.\u00a0\u00a0 About three quarters.\u00a0 I took some consolation from the fact that it was printed in German, but a friendly fan from Munich wrote and assured me that the translation was so bad it was almost unreadable.\u00a0 I trust her because she reads amazingly well in English.\u00a0 I\u2019ve fallen back on Kindle quite a bit too.\u00a0\u00a0 Let\u2019s see what precisely:<\/em><\/p>\n

Calypso\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Sedaris<\/h2>\n

I finally came to enjoy him, and quite by chance.\u00a0 I was watching the wonderful old two-part documentary on Mark Twain by Ken Burns when I realised the voice I should hear in my head when reading Sedaris should be Southern. \u00a0I have no idea whether that is how he speaks, but since many of the tales in this collection are set in and around the beach and house he buys on Emerald Isle and\u00a0 I looked it up on a map, Raleigh, Smithfield, definitely the south, it fell into place for me and I would read with the warm treacly elegant voice used by many of the Burns readers.\u00a0 And enjoyed the tale of family, and loss, and good times.<\/p>\n

Sue Grafton\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 C is for corpse<\/h2>\n

I abandoned her alphabetical detective stories at this one. Not finishing.\u00a0 Not even sorry.\u00a0 Maybe a rainy day read.\u00a0 But she is no Maigret.\u00a0 Pity<\/p>\n

Fear\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bob Woodward<\/h2>\n

My final Kindle try was Woodward\u2019s book, delivered shortly after midnight on publication day, but I can\u2019t become interested in Trump.\u00a0 He is such a simple monster. \u00a0Narcissistic and uninteresting.\u00a0 With all the sycophants surrounding him doing the dance around his desk only Bannon struck me as interesting, the rest avoiding the Jared\u2019s and the soi-disant First Daughter came across as jumped up stool pigeons, and I began to lament the weakness at the heart of the American system: the elected Emperorship, with way too much power for one man and the fact that he could pull anyone unelected into his kitchen cabinet and have them do anything under promise of Presidential pardon, surely the most corrupting exception in any form of government.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I tried a few real books too:<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a Joke and so are you\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robin Ince<\/h2>\n

A Comedian\u2019s Take on What Makes us Human.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>I very much enjoyed this book that Robin Ince kindly sent me.<\/p>\n

A Strange Eventful History\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Holroyd<\/h2>\n

Which I found to be an occasionally eventful history of Ellen Terry and Henry Irving, and no more remarkable than the lives of many actors, the main interest being who and when they popped in to bed with others, since it is almost impossible to get a sense of the acting styles of Sarah Bernhardt et al pre U Tube.\u00a0 Frankly, I got fed up with the whole lot of them.<\/p>\n

How to talk about books you haven\u2019t read.\u00a0 Pierre Bayard<\/h2>\n

A fascinating series of essays and although apparently tongue in cheek, this Parisian professor tackles some interesting thoughts about what we think we know about reading.\u00a0\u00a0 Amusing hors d\u2019oeuvres, but not the full smorgasbord.<\/p>\n

The List\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron<\/h2>\n

A short novella length little beguiling read, is part of the Slough House series.\u00a0 He just gets better and better.<\/p>\n

Fortune Smiles\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Adam Johnson<\/h2>\n

\u201cSuperbly written short stories I could easily re-read again.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s what I wrote when I first read this book on the road in February in Australia in 2016, \u00a0\u00a0but I was going through an Adam Johnson phase and picking this up again in Vromans I found it wasn\u2019t true.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t easily re-read them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So now what?\u00a0\u00a0 Pick up a Dickens, mash into a Maigret, or attack the Bellow I have been storing up?<\/p>\n

Plus I have to decide what to take with me on my book tour\u2026. I decided to tackle a book on Berlin.\u00a0 See Napoleon\u2019s guide to reading:\u00a0 \u201cWhen in doubt invade Berlin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berlin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rory Maclean<\/h2>\n

Well I loved this. A kind of personal cultural history of Berlin, with two of my favourite essays: one describing the extraordinary day that Kennedy visited Berlin, which by an exquisite coincidence found me also in Berlin on that very day, where I saw his cavalcade go by.\u00a0 The other is a lovely piece on David Bowie and \u201cHeroes\u201d, describing his time in the city and his work methods.\u00a0 The whole book was lovely and finely written and I really loved it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And I kept on reading:<\/p>\n

Collected Poems \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Larkin<\/h2>\n

Which is simply wonderful.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

August<\/u><\/h1>\n

Continuing my troll and stroll through Powell.\u00a0 (And that rhymes.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like a very posh soap, but exquisitely written.\u00a0 Is Proust French soap?<\/p>\n

The Acceptance World\u00a0\u00a0 (3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Powell<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

The first three books are described as Spring.\u00a0 Jenkins moves into the world and falls in love, this time reciprocated, in an affair with Jean.\u00a0 Uncle Giles is obscure as ever in a Bayswater Hotel.\u00a0 Some acquaintances have fallen away, some have been married, divorced and become drunks (Stringham.)\u00a0 Widmerpool has left his powerful job and joins the acceptance world, in the City.\u00a0 Something to do with guaranteeing options.<\/p>\n

At Lady Molly\u2019s. \u00a0 (4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Powell<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

We enter now Summer.\u00a0 Time has passed.\u00a0 The affair with Jean is over.\u00a0 Jenkins, as usual glides through society, bumping into people, Widmerpool of course, who is now getting married.\u00a0 I finally finished reading this in September, when I was low on good reads, because it is so exquisitely written and you just want to know what happens to Widmerpool.\u00a0 At the end Jenkins is engaged, but not particularly happily.<\/p>\n

Catalina Eddy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel Pyne\u00a0 <\/em><\/h1>\n

A Novel in Three Decades.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Very fine trilogy of LA crime novels set as advertised in different decades.\u00a0\u00a0 Very well written and constructed. I like his books very much. I had this on Kindle for travel.\u00a0 This was particularly readable and a fascinating slice of different times in LA.<\/p>\n

Deep Water\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/em><\/h1>\n

Highsmith\u2019s great originality is making us root for the villains.\u00a0 She understands that evil is only a slight shift of emphasis from the norm.\u00a0 Thus she can have it both ways, we observe the criminal and then watch the net closing in on the unsuspecting criminal.\u00a0 I love all the Ripleys.\u00a0\u00a0 This is very good too and has some interesting stuff from Gillian Flynn.<\/p>\n

A is for Alibi\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sue Grafton<\/h2>\n

My wife was ploughing through these and they are very finely written Californian crime novels, with a very cute female Private Eye.\u00a0 I enjoyed it so much on Kindle I started the second<\/p>\n

B is for Burglar\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sue Grafton<\/h2>\n

Same author, same detective.\u00a0 I was a bit disappointed it repeated the shape of the first book at the end, but I imagine she will have changed this by the next, which I have already downloaded.<\/p>\n

The Vegetarian\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Han Kang<\/em><\/h1>\n

Two thirds of a great book for me.\u00a0 Extraordinary fine writing and construction, but I felt it disintegrated into sentimentality just at the end. Since when I have read a little about the controversy of the translator \u2013 they both won the Booker.\u00a0 \u00a0Perhaps that explains the tailing off.\u00a0\u00a0 Who knows?<\/p>\n

The Actual\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saul Bellow<\/em><\/h1>\n

A novella, from 1997.\u00a0 About a Chicago businessman and his intense and long love for a married woman.<\/p>\n

Maigret and the Lazy Burglar\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/em><\/h1>\n

Like a fine cocktail, the short exquisite world of Maigret refreshes and cleanses the palate.\u00a0 Here he investigates the suspicious and inconvenient (to his superiors) death of a small-time burglar.<\/p>\n

Intimacy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hanif Kureishi<\/em><\/h1>\n

An unhappy man makes plans to run away from his partner and their child.\u00a0 Honest and revealing.<\/p>\n

Herzog\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saul Bellow.<\/em><\/h1>\n

Magnificent.\u00a0 But I stopped again at the same point.\u00a0 Is it the construction?\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s like Ulysses events and memories.\u00a0 I find the apparent directionless of it a little wearying.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ll pick up and read on later.\u00a0 Honest.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

July <\/u><\/h1>\n

Swing Time\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Zadie Smith<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Having totally fallen in love with her reading her recent book of essays I\u2019m now catching up on some of her work I haven\u2019t yet read.\u00a0\u00a0 I seriously enjoyed this, her fifth novel, which is a highly readable book. It gave me some sense of the Willesden world my son grew up in.\u00a0 It has such an authentic air to it I wonder if she really did work for an Australian singer.\u00a0 But this is to underestimate the great imaginative skills of good writers.\u00a0 They convince you that what they are writing is actually the truth.\u00a0 Let us not forget the sage advice of John Le Carr\u00e9 \u201cNever trust a novelist when he tells you the truth.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 This is the story of two friends, with different family backgrounds, but from the same estate in Willesden.\u00a0 The unforgettable Tracey sets off to become a dancer, while the unnamed narrator, revealed as sadly too flat footed for ballet, drifts, into college and then into a job with Aimee a successful world famous international pop singer, who befriends her, lifts her up into a smart whirlpool world of New York, Australia, London and finally West Africa where her darker skin tones make her useful to do the grunt work in a hugely publicised charity work, opening a girls school.\u00a0 This satire is deadly.\u00a0\u00a0 The lack of interest in the details of what it entails to run a girl\u2019s school in a Muslim dictatorship, exposes Aimee as a self-obsessed shallow narcissist, and the inevitable break up with her leads to ?? (the unnamed protagonist) finding herself.\u00a0\u00a0 Tracey, whose father she steadfastly believes is away dancing with Michael Jackson, but is actually frequently in prison, recurs and is glimpsed in the final scene in a heart-breaking but highly revealing moment.\u00a0 She is a happy mother.<\/p>\n

Ravelstein\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saul Bellow<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

A dying man is given the task of writing about a dying man, his remarkable mentor and friend.\u00a0 I guess this 2000 is late Bellow.\u00a0 I liked it very much.\u00a0 I loved the Parisian scenes particularly.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Maigret and the Dead Girl\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Wonderful.\u00a0 The mystery of a poor young girl coming to Paris and what happened to her.<\/p>\n

Slough House Series\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Slow Horses\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Dead Lions\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron <\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Mick Herron has been oddly compared to Graham Greene by some reviewer, which is inappropriate, he is far more like a modern Le Carr\u00e9.\u00a0 Slough House and its unforgettable head Jackson Lamb are destined to become the new image of The Circus.\u00a0\u00a0 A cluster of fuck-ups, screw ups and people who may no longer be fired for politically correct reasons, are relegated to Slough House where they are destined never to return, to push paper around until they finally give up and quit.\u00a0 However, the underdogs have their day.\u00a0 Highly readable and given to me as a pot boiler read by a friend, they are more than that; they are an articulate, and hilarious study of modern British society and its place in the world.<\/p>\n

A Question of Upbringing (1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Powell<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Spring.\u00a0 The first of the twelve volumes of A Dance to the Music of Time. <\/em>I bought the second in Hatchards and then the whole dozen.\u00a0\u00a0 However, I found that it was too much cream for tea at one sitting.\u00a0\u00a0 His prose is magnificent, but as my friend Jeremy says the writing is great but nothing much happens.\u00a0 Obviously, the wonderful creation of Widmerpool is a delight but that whole world is gone now.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This book is largely the schooldays with the unforgettable first appearance of Widmerpool.<\/p>\n

A Buyer\u2019s Market\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Powell<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Time has passed.\u00a0 Nicholas Jenkins is older.\u00a0\u00a0 Girls are coming out.\u00a0\u00a0 Boys are getting in.\u00a0\u00a0 Not Jenkins, whom seems to glide through this privileged world, bumping into odd characters like Gypsy Jones, falling in love with French women, imagining himself in love with English women, people\u2019s sisters, without actually doing anything.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

June<\/u><\/h1>\n

Born Trump \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Emily Fox<\/h2>\n

I ordered this on a whim from Kindle. The Trumps of course are not interesting in and of themselves, they are rather like second rate characters from a TV soap, but this writer did nothing to make one want to read about them, and I ditched it early.\u00a0 She comes from Vanity Fair<\/em> which has of late also become strangely dull.\u00a0 Come back Graydon Carter, all is forgiven.\u00a0\u00a0 We needed your relentless hatred of the orange monster.<\/p>\n

Maigret Sets a Trap\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

I was wondering why I wasn\u2019t so knocked out by this when the denouement blew me away.\u00a0 He is seriously good.\u00a0 Once again weather provides the setting.\u00a0 This time Paris in the dead days of August.\u00a0 Hot and oppressive, waiting for a thunderstorm to clear the air.\u00a0\u00a0 This is about a serial killer, and he comes into the story after five murders!\u00a0\u00a0 Who else would ever do that?\u00a0 Such confidence he has.<\/p>\n

Call for the Dead\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

Confined to bed for twenty four hours I lashed into Le Carr\u00e9, beginning with this his first novel, which is at least half a detective story and introduces the delightful character of George Smiley, who collaborates with Mendel to solve the mystery of the sudden suicide of Fennan.\u00a0 Also appearing for the first time is the sinister Munch.\u00a0 And also for the first time the name Le Carr\u00e9.\u00a0 \u201cWhen people press me, I say, I saw the name on a shop front from the top of a London bus.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t.\u00a0 I just don\u2019t know.\u00a0 But never trust a novelist when he tells you the truth.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 I enjoyed it so much I resolved to re-read the Smiley novels in order.<\/p>\n

A Murder of Quality\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

After twenty four hours I was done with the first two and was forced to download the next.\u00a0 This one is set at Carne public school and features the struggle between town and gown when vile things break out in this ancient public school.\u00a0 For a short time Le Carr\u00e9 even taught at Eton, and of the masters he says \u201cI loathed them, and I loathed their grotesque allegiances most of all.\u00a0 To this day, I can find no forgiveness for their terrible abuse of the charges entrusted to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

I was forced to download this since I thought I had reread it recently, but turns out I hadn\u2019t.\u00a0 Of course I\u2019d seen the excellent movie again.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad I did, because I really liked it after all these years.\u00a0 Intriguing to get back into that world of Checkpoint Charlie, and the Munt puzzle which he brilliantly revisits in his latest A Legacy of Spies,<\/em> which I re-read with delight a month ago for no better reason than it looked fun in paperback at Vromans. \u00a0\u00a0And it was.<\/p>\n

The Looking Glass War\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

This did pose a dilemma as I have<\/em> read it recently, but I determined to continue in my quest and again I was rewarded.\u00a0\u00a0 He was of course panned for this, immediately after his grand success with the previous novel.\u00a0 It reminded me that the only thing I learned from studying literature at Cambridge is that it is almost always pointless reading any criticism.\u00a0 Most of it is penis envy, and though the envy may be big, the penis is tiny.\u00a0\u00a0 JLC meant this book as a corrective to the romantic view of the Circus he portrayed in his big surprising hit novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.\u00a0 This is a more accurate portrayal of the petty world of British intrigue and the seedy and sordid world of spying.\u00a0 Perhaps that view did not accord with the times.\u00a0 Anyway, it is well worth the trip.\u00a0 So that\u2019s the fourth of the Smiley novels and the larger, more famous works lie ahead.<\/p>\n

However I have decided to put re-reading them all on hold, there are just too many good new things to read on my shelf this summer.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps on my book tour\u2026<\/p>\n

The Essex Serpent\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sarah Perry<\/h2>\n

I had trouble sticking with this one.\u00a0\u00a0 It reminded me of the world of The French Lieutenant\u2019s Woman, <\/em>but I kept being confused by the period setting, and the intrusion of things like the London Underground, cameras and so on into the world of the 1890\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure I care enough to stick with it, but it\u2019s the sort of thing I could pick up later and enjoy.\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s me not it.<\/p>\n

Seize the Day\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saul Bellow<\/h2>\n

And despite all my ravings about Saul Bellow I kept finding myself putting this down.\u00a0\u00a0 Why?<\/p>\n

Is it me, or can you smell gas?<\/em><\/p>\n

Vengeance is Mine, All Others pay cash\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eka Kurniawan<\/h2>\n

I was quite enjoying this Indonesian novel.\u00a0 Mainly a story of a dick, I may return to it.<\/p>\n

The Moving Finger\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Agatha Christie<\/h2>\n

Sometimes one overlooks the obvious.\u00a0\u00a0 There is an excellent reason Agatha is the best read author in the world, she is actually very readable.\u00a0 This short novel, which eventually even includes Miss Marple at the end, helping with the denouement, is narrated by a brother in a dry, ironic style. He and his sister retreat for peace and quiet, and physical recovery into the simple peace and quiet of the English countryside where, of course, they find anything but and become involved in a murder mystery,\u00a0 a who-dunit about a poison pen letter writer.\u00a0 Utterly pleasurable.<\/p>\n

Maigret\u2019s Failure\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

The secret of Simenon is women.\u00a0\u00a0 He knows them.\u00a0\u00a0 Thoroughly.\u00a0 He studies them.\u00a0\u00a0 He understands them.\u00a0 He sees their sorrows.\u00a0 He understands their heart aches.\u00a0 Their betrayals.\u00a0 Their sadness at growing old.\u00a0 Their power over men.\u00a0\u00a0 Their hanging on to old illusions when their men have passed their sell-by date.\u00a0 And of course in Madame Maigret he has created the ideal companion.\u00a0 One who never complains or demands his time.\u00a0 Who cooks at the drop of a hat, who even tries not to breathe when she has toothache so as not to disturb him.\u00a0\u00a0 Of course she is the least real of all his women.\u00a0 It\u2019s the sadness, and the drinking and the violence against women he perceives, because he was a lover of women.\u00a0\u00a0 Thousands.\u00a0 A daily seduction was as essential to him as writing.\u00a0 And he is not a good looking guy.\u00a0 But women trust him and perk up when they see him like they do for Maigret, the ideal observer, who just smokes his pipe and says little until the whole crime falls into place.\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes even in a dream.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is a faultless Maigret which includes excellent examples of all this.<\/p>\n

Tyrant\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Greenblatt<\/h2>\n

The most brilliant take-down of the tyrant in the white house without a single mention of his name.\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen examines tyrants in Shakespeare history plays and what makes them tyrannous and how they grow into tyranny.\u00a0 Richard 111, Macbeth, Lear, and Coriolanus.\u00a0 Madness and megalomania leads them all down a path that seems so familiar from today\u2019s headlines.\u00a0\u00a0 A fascinating and brilliant read.\u00a0 And you can be sure one illiterate traitor won\u2019t be able to read it\u2026<\/p>\n

How the Wheel becomes it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Powell<\/h2>\n

A brilliant novel, exquisitely written.\u00a0 A short return to the scene in 1983 after the long and classic series of novels A Dance to the Music of Time.\u00a0 I felt it was so wonderfully written and constructed with his characters scenes constantly illuminated by the hilarious comments of the off-stage narrator.\u00a0 I thought it might make a play and I wanted to read it again.\u00a0 I found a first edition somewhere on my travels.\u00a0 It made me buy the first of his twelve volume epic classic: A Dance to the Music of Time, and eventually the whole set.\u00a0\u00a0 See July.<\/p>\n

Churchill\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Johnson<\/h2>\n

An essential gallop through the exciting and brave life of one of the most remarkable men in history.\u00a0 And one of the greatest exponents of English prose.\u00a0 Nicely told by Paul Johnson.\u00a0 He was utterly fearless and seemed to actually enjoy being shot at\u2026 Things I picked up:\u00a0 Hitler loved whistling, Churchill hated it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He was fencing champion at Harrow school.<\/p>\n

May<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Uncommon Type\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Hanks<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Tom Hanks has no business being this uncommonly good at the short story.\u00a0 Is there nothing he cannot do?<\/p>\n

Warlight\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Ondaatje<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

A book of very accomplished parts.\u00a0 Fine writing, good characters, why does it not all then come together in triumph?\u00a0 I think he has chosen a very difficult way to tell the story. It\u2019s hard to tell a love story backwards and then only learn about it and the meaning and depth of it from the older eyes of the offspring.\u00a0 It involves the world of secrecy.\u00a0 Might have been better chronologically.<\/p>\n

Loser takes all\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Fifties pot-boiler, set around Monte Carlo and some lessons about wealth.\u00a0 A little too over evident on second reading.<\/p>\n

Robin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Itzkoff<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

I missed him.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t find him in this book.\u00a0 It read like his life was sad.\u00a0 It was far from sad. It made me want to try and write something about him, a little longer than the chapter I wrote about him in my Sortabiography, to discover for myself what I mean instinctively about his absence from these pages.\u00a0 It\u2019s not the Final Chapter of my book but it was the last chapter I wrote because I kept postponing it, knowing I must because I owed it to him, to recall him, in all his heart warming funny, sweet affectionate ways, but I was avoiding it for the longest time, dreading facing the reality of his loss. So maybe I will have a go or maybe that Chapter does it.\u00a0\u00a0 This is a perfectly fine canter through his life, but the essence is not there for me.<\/p>\n

Crime and Punishment \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fyodor Dostoevsky.<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Loved her, hated him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

April<\/u><\/h1>\n

Is the cruellest month bringing the news of the sudden death of a favour writer just when I was joyfully settling in with his latest book.\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr passed away at the very young age of 62. I met him at a party and we talked away happily though I was entirely ignorant it was him, one of my favourite writers.\u00a0 Fortunately for me another favourite writer Howard Jacobson told him what a fan I was of his Bernie Gunter novels.\u00a0 When I learned of his death I reached out to Howard and he kindly sent me this:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I passed on your email to Jane Thynne, Philip’s widow.\u00a0 She has just written back –
\n‘Thank you for sending it. I know he was extremely chuffed that Eric Idle liked his books. Actually, beyond chuffed.’
\nSo there’s the title for your critical study of his novels – Beyond Chuffed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I also wrote to Tom Hanks who I\u2019m know was also a big fan of his, and he responded:<\/p>\n

I was crazy shocked.\u00a0 I had a dinner with him at his home in Wimbledon a few years ago – and have read every single one of the Bernie Gunther stories.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is heart breaking we no longer have him, but at least we have his books.<\/p>\n

Greeks Bearing Gifts\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

My heart went out of the reading.\u00a0\u00a0 When death walks unbidden into a book it\u2019s hard to simply continue.<\/p>\n

I shall return to this some other time.\u00a0 Bernie starts work in a morgue, gets a job with an Insurance Company and investigates a fraud in Greece\u2026<\/p>\n

Maigret and the Headless Corpse\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

I turned for relief to my old standby favourite the latest translation of the life-saving series of newly translated Maigret\u2019s in paperback Penguin, which I hope never end.<\/p>\n

Chicago\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mamet<\/h2>\n

Truly a master of dialogue, this makes his book brilliant.\u00a0 Totally readable.\u00a0 The characters are immediately alive.\u00a0 Set in the twenties in the windy city, around the mob and newspaper men, this is a big, broad wonderful book. You can\u2019t put it down.<\/p>\n

Maigret is Afraid\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Often Maigret\u2019s short novellas are simple tragedies, frequently in a large family linked together by silence.\u00a0 Often the family are set are against the local town, either above them socially, or beneath them through poverty, drink and disgrace.\u00a0 Maigret\u2019s arrival, here to visit an old friend on his way home, finds him greeted as well with fame, and the cautious respect due to the famous Parisian detective.\u00a0 He watches from the outside while others,\u00a0 less competent, pursue wrong leads, rival theories, and petty jealousies.\u00a0 He wanders around the bars, drinking, listening and watching.\u00a0 Simenon, like Maigret, is a fantastic observer of the ordinary lives of others, their jealousies, their sexual weaknesses, their alcoholism, their drugs.\u00a0 What makes his stories so particularly satisfying are the characters, especially the females, whom he draws accurately, precisely, and without sentiment.\u00a0 Their clothes, their laundry, their homes.\u00a0 That, the countryside and the weather, and the love of Paris in the springtime.\u00a0 In fact weather is vital in his writing: take two examples from this perfect short novel.\u00a0 This:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The weather was so contrary and fierce that the rain wasn\u2019t mere rain or the wind freezing wind – this was a conspiracy of the elements\u2026.There was no point trying to protect himself.\u00a0 Water wasn\u2019t just pelting down from the sky but was also dripping from the guttering, in fat, cold drops, streaming down the doors of the houses and racing along the gutters with the gurgling of a torrent; you had water all over your face and neck, in your shoes and even in the pockets of your clothes\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

And then this:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By around 5 p.m., the sky had become apocalyptically dark and it had been necessary for all the town\u2019s streetlamps to be lit.\u00a0 There had been two brief, dramatic rolls of thunder, and finally the heavens had opened, sending down not rain but hail.\u00a0 All the people in the street vanished, as if blown away by the wind, and white hailstones bounced off the cobbles like ping pong balls.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maigret, who at that moment had been in the Caf\u00e9 de la Poste, had jumped to his feet like everyone else, and they all stood at the window watching the street the way people watch a fireworks display.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

This is masterful work.<\/p>\n

The Only Story\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Barnes<\/h2>\n

I have to confess that while the new Julian Barnes is beautifully written, and while I picked up a signed edition at Vromans, I became strangely uninterested in the affair of the nineteen year old teenager for the tennis club siren in the home counties.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t quite decide why I cared so little.\u00a0 The fifties are elegantly described.\u00a0 The dull lives of the parents are precisely placed.\u00a0 We understand the local middle class disapproval, and the weird withdrawal of her older husband.\u00a0\u00a0 I think in the end it\u2019s in the bedroom the story falters.\u00a0 This is a sexual novel, and while it may be \u201ctrue\u201d to say, as the narrator does, I don\u2019t remember how it started, the love story is all and in the end it didn\u2019t come alive for me.\u00a0 It was too polite.\u00a0 I suppose in the end she doesn\u2019t come to life.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to read on because he is Julian Barnes, and I have also been known to be wrong!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Nothing\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hanif Kureishi<\/h2>\n

I like this short novella.\u00a0 He is a terrific writer as we know.\u00a0 Zadie Smith describes his importance to her in her wonderful book of essays (q.v.)\u00a0 Here an old filmmaker, stuck in a wheelchair, plots an elaborate revenge on his betraying love.\u00a0 It\u2019s a Hitchcock plot, and probably deliberately, because there are film references throughout.\u00a0\u00a0 His skill keeps both the pacing and the twists of the plot coming at you.\u00a0 Short, sharp, sweet.<\/p>\n

The Captain and the Enemy.\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

I always get to the same point in this book.\u00a0 About half way through.\u00a0 I have about three first editions, I think for the reason I keep thinking I haven\u2019t read it.\u00a0\u00a0 I either have to stop buying first editions or start half way through\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 This is the story of a funny\/wicked Uncle who pulls a neglected boy out of a dull boarding school, and then like his father, also disappears.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

March<\/u><\/h1>\n

Feel Free\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Zadie Smith<\/h2>\n

I came across this new book of Essays by this terrific novelist and fell in love.\u00a0 Not with just the book, with the author.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s alright, it happens at my age, and she is a Cambridge alum and lived in Willesden, and now lives in New York, writing fabulous essays.\u00a0\u00a0 I bought all her books again to read in the summer.\u00a0 I loved this one,.<\/p>\n

Zero K\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don DeLillo<\/h2>\n

I had a strong feeling I had read this before, but if I did I failed to note it.\u00a0 Perhaps in France.\u00a0 I also had the strong feeling I abandoned it at the same point.\u00a0 I only like some of his work.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be gone in the Dark\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michelle McNamara<\/h2>\n

Of course I bought this because of Patten.\u00a0 I was at her memorial and remember being impressed by the number of police who had turned up.\u00a0 The book is truly well written and fascinating, but I have a weakness.\u00a0 I confess to a horror of horror.\u00a0 I decided when I had to shut the curtains, and couldn\u2019t sleep that while I loved the book it was simply too terrifying for me to read. <\/em>\u00a0I cannot watch horror movies:\u00a0 the last I saw was Psycho!, so I\u2019m sorry, I\u2019m a supporter, a sympathiser, but a dweeb.\u00a0\u00a0 What was brilliant is the recent arrest of the serial killer and she helped to keep the case alive, and even describes what will happen to him one day with the knock on the door and the arrest.\u00a0 How wonderful that it did. A bitter sweet triumph for Patten, who shepherded the publication of his late wife\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

As Time Goes By\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Derek Taylor<\/h2>\n

Talking to Ringo the other day, now Sir Ringo hooray, he told me once again the story of how Derek Taylor entered the lives of the Beatles, kicking in the door of their dressing room backstage at a concert.\u00a0 So impressed with such hutzpah were the Fabs that Derek, a Manchester reporter, immediately got the job of Beatles Press Officer.\u00a0 I was privileged to have him as a friend for many years, and even as an Executive on The Rutles, where Michael Palin played him (Eric Manchester) interviewed by George. \u00a0We exchanged lengthy and giggly correspondence until his untimely death.\u00a0 His books are being re-released and Apple sent me this one, which I loved before and love now.\u00a0\u00a0 More are promised.<\/p>\n

When The Light Goes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Larry McMurtry<\/h2>\n

He is some kind of wonderful.\u00a0\u00a0 Always readable, always entertaining. Always honest.<\/p>\n

The Birth of Britain.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Winston S. Churchill<\/h2>\n

I bought all four volumes of this classic of A History of the English-Speaking Peoples in a nice first edition set at The Pasadena Book Fair.\u00a0\u00a0 I might quibble and say that in Volume One they speak mainly Anglo-Saxon and French, but his prose is so enjoyable that I settled in for an enjoyable trip through my peeps by the finest exponent of the English language.<\/p>\n

The Adventures of Augie March\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saul Bellow<\/h2>\n

I finished this fabulous novel.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps one of the greatest novels I have ever read.\u00a0 Simply the best.<\/p>\n

Of course I prepare to binge\u2026and have bought everything else.\u00a0\u00a0 Read this.<\/p>\n

February<\/u><\/h1>\n

The Rub of Time\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/h2>\n

Various essays.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wonderful on Nabokov, and Hitchens and Travolta.\u00a0 Made me buy and read the Saul Bellow at once.<\/p>\n

The Adventures of Augie March\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saul Bellow<\/h2>\n

An almost perfect novel.\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how he does this.\u00a0 I can understand how Dickens writes, how Jane Austen achieves her effects, but this pours out like poetry.\u00a0 Quite extraordinary.\u00a0\u00a0 I see now how Martin Amis and Christopher Hitchens became such fans of his work.\u00a0 I\u2019m about halfway through, and dreading it coming to a close.\u00a0\u00a0 I think one of the finest books I have ever read.<\/p>\n

The Angel Esmeralda\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don DeLillo<\/h2>\n

Nine stories.\u00a0\u00a0 Exquisite.<\/p>\n

Playback\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Chandler<\/h2>\n

Almost perfect.\u00a0 A continuous pursuit of the mysterious lady who arrives on the train in LA.<\/p>\n

The Monk of Mokha\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dave Eggers<\/h2>\n

A tale of coffee in the Yemen.<\/p>\n

Maigret Goes to School\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

A school teacher from La Rochelle seeks help in a murder.<\/p>\n

Great Contemporaries\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Winston Churchill<\/h2>\n

Published in 1938 Churchill is the best prose writer of the twentieth century. \u00a0Fascinating people here.<\/p>\n

Righteous\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joe Ide<\/h2>\n

An IQ Novel.\u00a0\u00a0 Having been bowled over by his debut I had to immediately send off for this his second novel.\u00a0\u00a0 Obviously he spent ten years on the first, and this can\u2019t quite follow it, but he is the real thing.<\/p>\n

Maigret\u2019s Mistake\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

A charismatic brain surgeon and the death of a mysterious young woman.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evegenia Citkowitz<\/h2>\n

I was so looking forward to this and I have to confess I was disappointed.\u00a0\u00a0 I adore her short stories, she writes wonderfully well but I felt she was not quite in control of this her first novel.\u00a0 I was frequently confused, I wasn\u2019t sure what the main story was and it seemed to jump all over the place.<\/p>\n

January<\/u><\/h1>\n

IQ\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joe Ide<\/h2>\n

A brilliant new writer.\u00a0\u00a0 Please enjoy this almost perfect First Novel.\u00a0 I found it at Vromans in Pasadena.\u00a0 A local LA thriller with a brilliant protagonist and perfect foil.\u00a0 Such mature writing and such accomplished story telling is very rare.\u00a0 It\u2019s delightful.<\/p>\n

A Man\u2019s Head\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Another brilliant read for the plane.<\/p>\n

The Old Man\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

Thank heaven I threw this into my packing at the last minute.\u00a0\u00a0 I read it last year but it had me gripped again.\u00a0 That is the great advantage of age.\u00a0 You can immediately re-read books!\u00a0 It\u2019s really fine and wonderful.\u00a0 He writes so well and is so consistent.\u00a0 Thrilling.<\/p>\n

Munich\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Harris<\/h2>\n

This is the second time I bought this book and took it away with me and the second time I abandoned it after a few chapters.\u00a0 Are there two Robert Harris\u2019s?\u00a0 Some of his books I just adore and others I just cannot get into.\u00a0\u00a0 As Al Read said \u201cIs it me, or can you smell gas?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Must be me.<\/p>\n

Striking Back\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Aaron J. Klein<\/h2>\n

I brought two books away with me about Munich, this one about the horrendous 1972 Olympic Massacre \u201cand Israel\u2019s Deadly Response.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 I love books about the Mossad.\u00a0 This foul attack led to reprisals and I should bloody hope so.\u00a0\u00a0 What stunned me was that the Germans did not immediately halt the Olympic Games when the hostages were taken.\u00a0\u00a0 I could not believe that.\u00a0 Also they made a terrible mess of the security arrangements for the athletes even after concerns were broached, and the rescue attempt, well the keystone cops could have done better.\u00a0 Sadly the Israelis totally misunderstood just how incompetent the Bavarian authorities were and how in their system West Germany was not allowed to intrude.\u00a0\u00a0 So a deadly farce was played out on television with deadly results and the resulting Bavarian incompetence completely hushed up.\u00a0 The resulting revenge was slow but deadly.<\/p>\n

Power House\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Aaron J. Klein<\/h2>\n

The story of CAA, the little Californian Talent Agent that could.\u00a0 I enjoyed ten per cent of it.\u00a0\u00a0 Kidding.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s a fascinating story, if not always fascinating, of how five agents broke away from William Morris to create their own Agency, poaching clients and luring others, mainly by working their butts off.\u00a0 Of course success leads to its own problems.\u00a0 \u00a0All Power corrupts is not just a tendency.\u00a0\u00a0 It is a rule.\u00a0 Here we see what happens when Ovitz becomes the biggest and most powerful man in Hollywood.\u00a0 I loved reading about the adorable and wonderful and hilarious Bill Haber, who would go on to such great things as producing Spamalot!<\/em>\u00a0 Also Stan Meyer is a wonderful chap.<\/p>\n

The Man Who Invented Christmas\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Les Standiford<\/h2>\n

The story of Dickens writing, editing and creating (in effect Self-Publishing) A Christmas Carol<\/em>, his short but brilliant novella, which sold out immediately before Christmas 1843, saving his bacon and his turkey.\u00a0 The recent film itself was fairly clumsy but then worked magnificently, almost like the book of a musical, because it is so wonderfully sentimental and moral and based on a genius book.\u00a0 And it had Christopher Plummer as Scrooge.<\/p>\n

The Old Man Dies\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

A non Maigret about the death of a Parisian restaurant owner and the three sons.\u00a0 The usual chaos and greed and infighting in the family that death seems to foster.\u00a0\u00a0 Beautifully written.\u00a0 But no crime\u2026<\/p>\n

Fire and Fury\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Wollf<\/h2>\n

Inside the Trump White House.\u00a0 Such chaos, such court rivalries, such incompetence, laziness, arrogance and greed has not been seen since the Borgias.\u00a0 A Kakocracy, a Kleptocracy, a Nepocracy\u2026 Michael Wollf sat on a chair in the West Wing and recorded it all.\u00a0 You couldn\u2019t have made it up.\u00a0 Seems that Bannon made his move based on this book coming out. His own run for power.\u00a0 A miscalculated play.\u00a0 One thing this bald money laundering mobster knows is how to fight back.\u00a0 \u201cWhere is my Roy Cohn?\u201d he shouted recently like a Shakespearian villain.\u00a0 (Enter from Hell a Ghost in chains.)<\/p>\n

Great stories of infighting between the Javanka\u2019s as he calls them, Bannon and Rince Previus.\u00a0 But this is truly a Shite House, where they are all live in fear of the next Tweet, the next firing, even lining up to escape.\u00a0 Where will it all end?\u00a0\u00a0 Will America ever become Great again?\u00a0\u00a0 Fingers crossed.\u00a0 Read on.<\/p>\n

The Man Who Owns The News\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Wollf.<\/h2>\n

I so enjoyed the style of Michael Wollf I went back and downloaded a previous book on Rupert Murdoch.\u00a0 Again he is fair.\u00a0 No one could say this was a hatchet job, however the growth of the Ailes\/Murdoch\/ Fox News World is intensely depressing.\u00a0 His newspaper world and attempts to own the Wall Street Journal, do paint him as a man vitally involved and in love with newspapers.\u00a0 Also the growth of his love for power.\u00a0 Which as we know corrupts and which led in his case to a monstrous control over politics.\u00a0\u00a0 He is not altogether dislikeable, but his dynasty is held together by his will alone.\u00a0 It will crumble.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Even Worse Than You Think\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Cay Johnston<\/h2>\n

What the Trump Administration is doing to America.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Took the download.\u00a0\u00a0 Not as focused or as timely as Wolff\u2019s book but in many ways interesting, slash, depressing.\u00a0 Hashtag Follow The Money.\u00a0 If this money lending mobster gets away with this America will be over.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2017<\/h2>\n

Command Option 1 \/ 3<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A few friends are on my Christmas gift list, where I send them ten of the books I have most enjoyed reading in the year, wrapped in brown paper, string and ceiling wax, from Mr. B\u2019s Bookshop in Bath.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This year these were my ten (??) gift books.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Legacy of Spies\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/p>\n

The Golden House\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Salman Rushdie<\/p>\n

Dead is Good\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jo Perry<\/p>\n

An Officer and a Spy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Harris<\/p>\n

The Comedians\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene
\nPrussian Blue\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/p>\n

How To Build a Universe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Professor Brian Cox and Robin Ince
\nThe Hand\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Bomb Maker by Thomas Perry would have made it but of course it\u2019s only just now in the shops.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Happy New Year and have a great read.<\/p>\n

December<\/h1>\n

The Second World War\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Antony Beevor<\/h2>\n

I spent most of the month reading this great narrative of World War Two.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Then I found\u2026.<\/p>\n

Blitzed\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Norman Ohler<\/h2>\n

A most wonderful read and a really informative book especially right after reading Anthony Beevor\u2019s World War Two where I was constantly asking myself how could anybody do this.\u00a0\u00a0 Here is the answer.\u00a0\u00a0 They become a junkie.\u00a0 Crystal meth, amphetamine, coke, morphine, half the Supreme Command was on something, and Hitler was on everything.\u00a0\u00a0 At the end his doctor\/dealer could hardly find a vein.\u00a0 The German army, navy and pilots were fed amphetamine to stay awake.\u00a0 Blitzkrieg?\u00a0\u00a0 How did the army move so fast and without stopping?\u00a0\u00a0 Easy: Pervitin, a form of speed manufactured in enormous quantities by Merck to keep the armies rolling and the factories churning.\u00a0 Why did the army stop and not continue their charge to obliterate the English at Dunkirk?\u00a0 Hitler gave a stoner command!\u00a0 \u00a0How did he condemn an entire Army to die at Stalingrad?\u00a0\u00a0 Crystal meth.\u00a0\u00a0 Locked away in his bunkers he felt invincible.\u00a0\u00a0 Possessed of super powers.\u00a0 This is an important book to read and solves some of the many puzzles about the war.\u00a0\u00a0 You can even begin to feel slightly sorry for the Germans, especially at the end when kids were given speed to help them face the Red Army. Ironically, much of the stuff was grown at Dachau.\u00a0\u00a0 Oh the unspeakable ironies of History.\u00a0 This is also downright fucking hilarious.\u00a0\u00a0 The picture of the Fuhrer at the end in his bunker, strung out, suffering from withdrawal symptoms, drooling, shaking with reality finally breaking in is just wonderful.\u00a0 We should check the Doctors of our leaders.<\/p>\n

Just saying\u2026<\/p>\n

Maigret\u2019s Revolver\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Another very fine tale from the Master of Maigret.\u00a0\u00a0 He is a constant bright spot in the months reading.<\/p>\n

Regards\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Gregory Dunne<\/h2>\n

I very much enjoyed these excellent essays. He is particularly good on the film industry and the horrors of being a screenwriter.\u00a0 In fact I enjoyed him so much I turned to:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Monster \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Gregory Dunne<\/h2>\n

which I enjoyed all of.\u00a0 \u00a0I also bought three of his novels at Iliad but then realized I had already read:<\/p>\n

Red White and Blue.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Gregory Dunne<\/h2>\n

And I wasn\u2019t knocked out by the other two.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Too Irish too Catholic too much dialogue.<\/p>\n

Nothing Lost\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Gregory Dunne<\/h2>\n

True Confession. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Gregory Dunne<\/h2>\n

The thriller element is potentially very good but nothing much happens while they talk and talk.\u00a0 And Apostolic intrigue is not interesting, not even when Trollope did it.<\/p>\n

Tell Tale\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeffery Archer<\/h2>\n

Every year the surprisingly nice Jeffery sends me his latest, and last year he said sadly that I never read them.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s not true.\u00a0\u00a0 This year I had seen and bought this book of short stories before I even opened my mail.\u00a0\u00a0 I enjoyed them very much.\u00a0 He is a real writer, not just an enormous world-wide best-selling author!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019ll teach me to be a book snob.<\/p>\n

The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Greenblatt<\/h2>\n

My old friend Stephen warned me that I wouldn\u2019t like this book, but I read and enjoyed a lot more than he would expect.<\/p>\n

How to Build a Universe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Professor Brian Cox & Robin Ince<\/h2>\n

Despite a very churlish intro from me this is a wonderful book.\u00a0 They have made it as simple as possible to understand as much as possible about the Universe and I really recommend it to everyone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

November<\/h1>\n

The Years of Victory\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Arthur Bryant<\/h2>\n

I read about half of this precursor to The Age of Elegance<\/em>, the sequel of which is Years of Victory<\/em>, both of which I was able to download, Iliad having for once come up empty.\u00a0 It\u2019s wonderful up to the sad Death of Nelson, which saves Britain at the same time as Napoleon\u2019s military genius at Austerlitz against the hapless Austrians condemns the Continent to ten more years of his dictatorship.\u00a0 But of course the coarse Corsican can\u2019t resist hurling himself on those Russians and their endless Empire, which causes the eventual death of his.\u00a0 Excellent history if like me that is your bag.<\/p>\n

The Last Kind Words Saloon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Larry McMurtry<\/h2>\n

Larry McMurtry is some kind of genius.\u00a0 I always enjoyed reading him.\u00a0 You look at his list of titles and he has an incredible run from Evening Star, through Texasville, through Lonesome Dove, The Desert Rose, Cadillac Jack on to Terms of Endearment and The Last Picture Show.\u00a0 An amazing writer of effortless stories, his people spring to life from the page, his characters fighting in and out of bed\u2026\u00a0 This one is almost mythical in the way he handles Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, so that the O.K.Corrall comes up at you almost unexpectedly so used to their company have you become.\u00a0 Yes, definitely some kind of genius.<\/p>\n

Mr. Hire\u2019s Engagement\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

An exquisite early detective tale, without Maigret but in the same milieu.\u00a0 An innocent man is hounded to his death by police and public.\u00a0 The amazing part of the story is the relationship between Mr Hire and the killer\u2019s girlfriend.\u00a0 The ambivalence, the use of sex to entrap him, Simenon is brilliant, honest and original.<\/p>\n

The Vanity Fair Diaries\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tina Brown<\/h2>\n

Tina Brown is wonderful and I was sorry I missed her talk with Bruce Wagner in LA.\u00a0 This is not as great a book as The Diana Chronicles<\/em> because while it fascinatingly charts the amazing rise and rise of Vanity Fair under her editorship, once that has been achieved we are left with a series of social events with New Yorkers, some fascinating, some brilliant, some merely rich.\u00a0 I found I began to skim the latter category.\u00a0 She is fascinated with the man who will provide the end game on Reagan Presidencies, but to be fair, in the mid-eighties, who could have foreseen that Donald Trump would be in the White House, even for dinner?\u00a0 As the Reagans passed from the scene the pursuit of money seemed to replace the pursuit of happiness.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps that all went up the nose in Studio 54 in the Seventies.\u00a0 Her achievement in resuscitating an almost dead magazine title and making it hip and smart and funny and readable is clearly and determinedly and modestly described in her extraordinary well-written diary. So I enjoyed the book but it is what it is, and unless you are fascinated by just how the wealthy designed their next party you should be prepared to skip.\u00a0\u00a0 Certainly worth it.<\/p>\n

Ma\u2019am Darling\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Craig Brown<\/h2>\n

The glimpses go from early intrigue, through contempt for her, through to eventual pity.\u00a0 A sad life in many ways and surely her greatest accolade was that she ended up as The Pantomime Princess Margaret appearing at all our live Monty Python shows in the Royal Box.\u00a0 We actually once stayed at her house on Mustique with David Bowie and Iggy Pop when the chartered Yacht didn\u2019t show up for a week.\u00a0 She wasn\u2019t there of course.\u00a0 Very beautiful Oliver Messel bungalow in the most exquisite setting.<\/p>\n

Our Kind of Traitor\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

I was enjoying re-reading this about two innocents recruited on holiday in Antigua to deal with a proposed Russian Mafiosi defector.\u00a0 I felt the same this time, that it sags after the Paris tennis scenes, indeed once the two leave the centre of the action.\u00a0 Nevertheless some great stuff.<\/p>\n

The Golden House\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Salman Rushdie<\/h3>\n

Possibly the most peculiar experience I have ever had reading.\u00a0 I was quietly enjoying Salman\u2019s latest when I entered the novel<\/em>!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Most disconcerting and slightly scary.\u00a0 I was so shocked it took me a while to go back to the book.\u00a0 The anonymity that you are guaranteed as a reader was ripped away and I realise how much we are dependent on that.\u00a0 We sit in the dark and respond but don\u2019t interfere and that is the implicit contract between writer and reader.\u00a0 When that is gone it is rather like being discovered on the toilet.\u00a0\u00a0 A most unique and interesting lesson.\u00a0 When I wrote to him Salman hoped it was a happy surprise.\u00a0 I think I\u2019m still a bit shocked\u2026<\/p>\n

My lawyer wanted to charge him for appearing in his book, which I thought was pretty funny.<\/p>\n

The Rub of Time\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/h3>\n

More fascinating articles from the most fascinating writer.\u00a0 Dip at will and you will find gold.<\/p>\n

Damage\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Josephine Hart<\/h1>\n

Not quite as good as Sin and earlier, but still pretty shocking.\u00a0 She heads straight for taboo subjects.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

October<\/h3>\n

Sin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Josephine Hart<\/h2>\n

I really loved this.\u00a0 Wickedly entertaining, highly readable.\u00a0 Funny and tragic and excellent.\u00a0 I\u2019ve bought all her books at Iliad\u2026.\u00a0\u00a0 Barnes and Noble had nothing.<\/p>\n

The Kingdom of Speech\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Wolfe<\/h2>\n

Tom Wolfe\u2019s take down of Noam Chomsky\u2019s apparently utterly worthless theories about the beginnings of language in homo sapiens.\u00a0\u00a0 Funny and elegantly done.\u00a0\u00a0 For a while Chomsky\u2019s politically correct thesis was untouchable, now it appears no one knows anything at all about the beginnings of language.\u00a0 I did just read a piece on line about Bonobos and Chimpanzees, which suggests that gesture is the beginning of language and this seems a very promising place to begin the search for this defining distinction between man and animals, though always remembering that the apes are animals, that birds talk and that trees communicate.<\/p>\n

The Looking Glass War\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

An almost satirical look at the fuck ups still fighting the previous war, and the constant war amongst bureaucrats.\u00a0 Three innocents caught up in this tale, only one survives.\u00a0 Smiley appears trying to help a hopeless cause.\u00a0 First published in 1965.\u00a0\u00a0 Very fine.<\/p>\n

Dunbar\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edward St. Aubyn<\/h2>\n

The third novel from the Hogarth Press from major writers adapting Shakespeare.\u00a0 I\u2019m not convinced it\u2019s a good idea.\u00a0\u00a0 This is successful until almost the end and the character of Dunbar is a finely drawn Lear jet businessman incarcerated in a mental home\u00a0 by his evil daughters.\u00a0 The trouble is there is no room for manoeuvre in the plots.\u00a0\u00a0 You know what is to happen.\u00a0 And a novel is not a play.\u00a0 He is the finest of our young writers and he got me till almost the end.\u00a0 \u00a0But then more questions were raised than answered and they were interesting questions because he had created interesting versions of the evil sisters, but the play was over so the novel had to be.\u00a0 I found this same limitation in the excellent Jeanette Winterson\u2019s Winter\u2019s Tale and now that I understand the premise I understand why Howard Jacobson\u2019s Shylock also fell away.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure first rate writers should be assigned to second rate publishing ideas.\u00a0 I bet that a good TV writer might do a better job.\u00a0\u00a0 Just saying.\u00a0 All three of these authors seem to have been constrained by the premise.\u00a0\u00a0 Now I see John Banville is finishing Henry James\u2019 books.\u00a0 Please authors write your own stuff, no matter what the advance\u2026.<\/p>\n

Call for the Dead\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

This is his first novel?\u00a0\u00a0 It is certainly his first Smiley novel.\u00a0 It is more of a detective story with a spy setting, which is how he finds his feet I think.\u00a0\u00a0 I liked it very much.\u00a0 The mystery call is the plot on which everything turns.\u00a0\u00a0 Finely worked out, elegantly told, it\u2019s the beginning of the tale of Smiley, his failed marriage to Lady Ann and her early exploits before she returns to him.\u00a0 Shows Smiley\u2019s struggle with the bureaucracy of the spying world and how he works well with characters like Mendel.\u00a0 Grand stuff.<\/p>\n

The Age of Elegance\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Arthur Bryant<\/h2>\n

Continuing to re-read this eloquent history of the Napoleonic period from the British perspective.\u00a0 I began half way through at Waterloo.\u00a0 He writes so thoughtfully and then of the period after the war where the Industrial miracle changed the face of England and English society.\u00a0 As always thought provoking and gripping.\u00a0\u00a0 Will resume next time I\u2019m in that place.\u00a0 Meanwhile will search Iliad for more of his work as he seems to have gone out of fashion and nothing is in print.<\/p>\n

The Secret Pilgrim\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

A wonderful book. A series of tales really as Smiley is invited back by Ned to talk to the graduating class at Sarrat.\u00a0 During his speech which forms the framework of the book he reminisces about some episodes and leads Ned into remembering or questioning certain good or dubious things that happened over his lifetime in the Service.\u00a0 It\u2019s a valedictorum for both of them, since they are both shortly to retire.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s about the sadness of leaving the Service and passing it on to a questionable world which has lost the black and white certainties of the Cold War, and which leaves behind the questions what have we become, who are the real victors, and what do we stand for now?\u00a0 Questions which have only become even harder to answer since this book was written during Glasnost and it seemed at the time like The Russia House were friends.\u00a0 It\u2019s an exquisite read.<\/p>\n

The House of Rumour\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jake Arnott<\/h2>\n

I found this sadly discarded on my shelves in France and picked it up again.\u00a0 I had done it a severe injustice.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s not a perfect book but it is highly readable.\u00a0\u00a0 I picked up again and found that what I thought was a book about L Ron Hubbard and Crowley and some slightly naive folks in Pasadena was a far more complex book about the puzzling flight of Rudolph Hess to Scotland.\u00a0 Was he lured or was he pushed?\u00a0\u00a0 Since the deputy leader of Nazi Germany flew solo to Scotland to the Duke of Hamilton\u2019s Estate only six weeks before Hitler\u2019s invasion of Russia which would take place crazily on the same day as Napoleon invaded and inevitably with the same result, Stalin certainly believed the British knew about it and didn\u2019t warn him.\u00a0 He had had several warnings and ignored them anyway and retired to bed for three weeks when Hitler turned on him.\u00a0\u00a0 Hess wished to prevent Germany fighting a war on two fronts and wanted to reach out to Churchill for an armistice.\u00a0 Whether he did that on his own initiative or was in a situation of plausible deniability is uncertain, what is certain is he never reached Churchill or Hamilton and spent the rest of his life imprisoned and either faking memory loss or being mad. He was the last to die in Spandau and according to this by suicide.\u00a0 Interwoven with this are three or four stories and some real people including Ian Fleming.\u00a0\u00a0 I very much enjoyed it and was so glad I picked it up again.\u00a0 Reminding me of the entirely new adage that there\u2019s nothing wrong with the book it\u2019s the bloody readers\u2026<\/em>\u00a0 (c) E.Idle 18th<\/sup> October 17 2017.)<\/p>\n

Elephant\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Carver<\/h2>\n

More wonderful tales from the world of Carver.\u00a0 Can\u2019t go wrong if it\u2019s a short story last thing at night you\u2019re needing.<\/p>\n

Maigret Takes a Room\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Even though I\u2019m pretty sure I read this before I was just as gripped by the story of Maigret, in the absence of Madame, taking a room in a boarding house with an over confident Proprietor to try and figure out who shot, but fortunately didn\u2019t kill Janvier in a quiet street where they were watching for someone else.<\/p>\n

Assembling California\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John McPhee<\/h2>\n

Again re-reading John McPhee\u2019s entirely wonderful tale of the unlikely geological assemblage of California.<\/p>\n

Forest Dark\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nicole Krauss<\/h3>\n

Praise from Philip Roth is about as good as it gets, I couldn\u2019t wait to read it and it was excellent as promised.\u00a0 I followed up on Kindle with<\/p>\n

The History of Love\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nicole Krauss<\/h2>\n

But didn\u2019t find it so compelling.\u00a0 An earlier work of course.\u00a0 Get the first.\u00a0 She\u2019s good.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

September<\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Legacy of Spies\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

I bought this his latest in NY and loved it of course.\u00a0 This time Peter Guillam is hauled out of retirement and confronted with some issues over Alec Leamas, the anti-hero of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.\u00a0 That was perfect timing for me as I had just watched the movie again, set against the bleak wall of Checkpoint Charlie with Richard Burton\u2019s dead-on performance of a burned out spy, unfortunately let down by his love for the idealistic communist Claire Bloom. This long ago episode involving who was really betraying whom has left some questions.\u00a0\u00a0 Smiley helps him solve who was on who\u2019s side after the ambivalence of almost fifty years.\u00a0 I could read it again now.<\/p>\n

The Bomb Maker\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

I saved up for my travels and sneakily took away with me this latest thriller from Thomas Perry and I found myself a little concerned about reading it at night, it is that gripping.\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t think it\u2019s published until January and the only problem with the author slipping you an early copy is you have to wait even longer for the next one.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is about a frightening bomb maker who takes on, and murders, the LA bomb squad.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to think where we are going these days, but every street and every incident seems for real.<\/p>\n

As if it wasn\u2019t bad enough his wife has also written another perfect book<\/p>\n

Dead is Good\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jo Perry<\/h2>\n

This is the third in her hopefully continuing series of a dead man and a dead dog.\u00a0 I enjoyed this one even more.\u00a0 Hard to solve or prevent crime when you are dead and that\u2019s the brilliant originality of these books. Charles Stone, helped by the dog Rose tries to prevent someone murdering his late wife in LA.\u00a0 Starts with a bang and goes on surprising.\u00a0 Highly enjoyable and unique and there must be something in the water in the Perry household.\u00a0\u00a0 Oh and I was surprised to see myself quoted in one of the epithets that begin the chapters.<\/p>\n

Maigret and The Tall Woman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

A woman he arrested years before, who teased him then by appearing naked returns to his life to help him solve a crime.<\/p>\n

Born Standing Up\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Steve Martin<\/h2>\n

Simple, elegant and eloquent.\u00a0 Steve tells the tale of how he became a comedian.\u00a0\u00a0 And then stopped.\u00a0 Fun to re-read this classic.<\/p>\n

The Hidden Life of Trees\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter Wohlleben<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m still dipping into this and finding new and surprising delights.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s not a book you can read straight through.\u00a0 It has such mind boggling facts that it is worth keeping by the bedside to dip into.<\/p>\n

Maigret and the Killer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Another goodie.\u00a0\u00a0 From 1969, though the translation in this Book Club edition was 1971.\u00a0\u00a0 He is quite easy to find in second hand book shops, since he sold so well.\u00a0\u00a0 Worth it.<\/p>\n

August<\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

Absolute Friends\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

I had such a nice time re-reading A Delicate Truth <\/em>\u00a0that I plucked this one off the shelf to re-read.\u00a0 Interestingly, and thanks to my book diary, I found I stopped reading at exactly the same point, about half way through, when I realised that the missing person he is describing, and whom he seeks, is actually an asshole.\u00a0 \u00a0Fortunately for me his new novel arrived from Amazon, and I bought a nice edition of Call for the Dead.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>I have a feeling that it is the interim novels, after the Smiley world and before he gets into his later stride about the world of arms dealing, that the books aren\u2019t quite so forceful, but I have to read further to pursue this theory.<\/p>\n

A Gentleman in Moscow\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Amor Towles<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m sorry I think this is fraudulent.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I became uncomfortable reading Rules of Civility <\/em>and after a while this book gave me the same discomfort.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that he can\u2019t write, he can, and well, it\u2019s that this is pastiche.\u00a0 <\/em>The characters come from another place, and, indeed, book.\u00a0 It\u2019s parody without comedy.\u00a0 Or context.\u00a0 So I\u2019m sorry, and I know there are many people who read and enjoy him without noticing that this character is from War and Peace<\/em> and this one is from Eloise at The Plaza, <\/em>but it makes me feel practised on.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Maigret Bides His Time\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

His books are like a steel trap.\u00a0 People seem to be wandering around, many disconnected characters, and then suddenly the pace increases, connections are made, often violence explodes, and there it all is.\u00a0 Everything is connected.\u00a0\u00a0 This one, a first edition from March 1965, is a perfect example of this method.<\/p>\n

The Devil finds Work\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Baldwin<\/h2>\n

These Idle hands love it.\u00a0\u00a0 I love everything he writes.\u00a0 I once came face to face with him in St. Paul de Vence.\u00a0 That unforgettable face.\u00a0\u00a0 Those eyes. \u00a0What a genius.<\/p>\n

What The Dog Saw\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Malcolm Gladwell<\/h2>\n

Another impeccable book from this master, what? essayist I guess.\u00a0 His particular genius is not only to write about what fascinates him, and he is clearly a fascinating man, but connecting disparate subjects and considering what they might have in common.\u00a0\u00a0 In this collection of essays from the New Yorker he writes about legendary Pitchmen, ketchup, sportspeople who choke, early and late bloomers, Cesar Millan, the paradoxes of plagiarism, homelessness, criminal profiling, etc etc The range of his interests are seemingly endless and he is always fascinating, and illuminating about everything that catches his attention.<\/p>\n

A Delicate Truth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

Le Carr\u00e9 is perfect for jet lag, and I don\u2019t mean that in a rude way that it helps you sleep, but the exact opposite: that you are happy to be awake all night because reading is such a pleasure. I enjoyed this one more on this my second read, and even more than The Night Manager<\/em>.\u00a0 It is cleverly constructed and tight and told from two different viewpoints.\u00a0 You can see his new target becoming not the old Cold War warriors but the modern cynical arms dealers, without any side but their own.\u00a0 Greed is the great modern sin, and combined with business efficiency he again targets the merchants of death.\u00a0\u00a0 Excellent.\u00a0 I have downloaded a ton onto my Kindle for future travels.<\/p>\n

What Makes Sammy Run?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Budd Schulberg<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s a reason this novel has sold continuously since it was first published in 1941: it\u2019s very good.\u00a0 He also has identified a then new type of American, Sammy Glick, the boy from the Ghetto who has learned to survive on his own wits and his own hutzpah.\u00a0 Unfortunately that which lifts you up may also bring you down, which is what makes this book such a satisfactorily moral tale, \u00a0told through the eyes of Al Mannheim, who is, like everyone else in the book, used by Sammy Glick, but somehow retains an interest in him, through an interest in the question that makes the title of the book a recurring theme, what makes Sammy run?\u00a0 <\/em>In the end, by returning to his roots he has the best view of the true answer.<\/p>\n

Maigret\u2019s Christmas\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

A collection of nine stories from the forties and fifties, only one of which Maigret in Retirement<\/em> I had read before, and then was just as confounded by the outcome.\u00a0\u00a0 All are great.\u00a0\u00a0 Seven Little Crosses in a Notebook, Maigret and the Surly Inspector, The Evidence of the Altar Boy, The Most Obstinate Customer in the World, Death of a Nobody, Sale by Auction, The Man in the Street, <\/em>as well as the title track.<\/p>\n

Conversations with Friends\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sally Rooney<\/h2>\n

Highly recommended from some magazine, I found this to be not so important as suggested and not so unputdownable, so I put it down.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Pounding away on my laptop I fell disgracefully behind, not on my reading dear reader, but on my writing about reading, so these are recreated memories of the pleasures I endured this summer.\u00a0 One of the reasons for keeping this writing diary is so I remember not to forget what I enjoyed, and yet here I am, packing to leave, with a stack of books on my shelf I can only dimly remember.\u00a0 Apologies to self. \u00a0I can only hope my writing was worth it.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

The Dog\u2019s Last Walk\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Howard Jacobson<\/h2>\n

This kept me company throughout the summer,\u00a0 selections of his fine writing from what I now I only just learn has become the defunct Independent.\u00a0 I really must try and keep up, but if the Brits won\u2019t let me vote despite paying taxes and force me to Brexit despite allowing me a choice in the matter, then I shall continue to ignore their often sick and insane newspapers.\u00a0\u00a0 Many a fine day was ended with a keenly turned polemic, many an afternoon siesta preceded by a finely tuned satire, from the Mancunian master and I am grateful for the company of his wonderful mind, sharing as I do a Cambridge education, a love of ping pong and some early years in Manchester.\u00a0 I promise never again to use the words \u201ca good read.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Though this is!<\/p>\n

Pussy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Howard Jacobson<\/h2>\n

I was also reading and enjoying his new novel before I became sickened by reading or listening to anything at all about the fat, dystopian, lunatic in the White House, and forswore to pay him what he most desperately craves, any more attention, even at the expense of abandoning the satirists who mock him. Perhaps when he is gone and if the world survives his inevitable demise my sense of humour about the monster will return.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I enjoyed catching up with two very fine books by the master of the Bernie Gunther novels, Philip Kerr,\u00a0 who seems to be able to turn his hand to anything.<\/p>\n

Dark Matter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

A most unlikely thriller starring Isaac Newton as a kind of Sherlock Maigret ensconced in the Tower of London with a satisfactorily proficient swordsman sidekick called Christopher Ellis. Sir Isaac has become Warden of the Royal Mint responsible for hunting down counterfeiters during a national emergency.\u00a0\u00a0 Faced with having to solve problems of codes and withstand physical attacks from assassins this is a highly suspenseful original tale. I have no idea how much of this is based on any historical truth but it makes a very satisfactory historical thriller.<\/p>\n

A Philosophical Investigation\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

This is his version of a modern detective story, set in a slightly more dystopian version of London in 2013, where serial murderers are sought by DNA detection and put into a \u201cpunitive coma.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 A case weary, female detective \u201cJake\u201d Jacowitz, matches wits with an intellectual serial killer. This is a brilliant story, told from both perspectives, and I enjoyed it very much.<\/p>\n

The Plot against America\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

So culled from contemporary headlines does this seem that it is almost impossible to believe it was published in 2004.\u00a0 It is what might have happened to America had the Republicans chosen Lindberg instead of returning Roosevelt for a third term in 1940.\u00a0 A Nazi appeaser in collaboration with his country\u2019s enemies in the White House, couldn\u2019t happen<\/em> I hear you say\u2026\u00a0 Told from the perspective of a Jewish boy growing up in Newark this step by step story of how fascism came to America is both prescient and terrifying.\u00a0\u00a0 It should have been a warning, and yet, here we are, with the country rising up to vote in a monster.\u00a0 A must read.<\/p>\n

The Day I Died\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lori Rader-Day<\/h2>\n

A very fine thriller about a handwriting expert pulled in by a sceptical detective to try and locate a boy and his mother who have gone missing.\u00a0\u00a0 Having only recently moved into the area she has her own story of running away and hiding.\u00a0 Finely done and gripping throughout this is great fun.<\/p>\n

An Officer and a Spy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Harris<\/h2>\n

Another fine book from this author, this one set at the time of the Dreyfus scandal where a French army officer witnesses Alfred Dreyfus being publicly humiliated and exiled for life on Devil\u2019s Island.\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Picquart, promoted to run the Intelligence Unit that tracked him down discovers that secrets are still being handed over to the Germans and is drawn into a struggle that threatens his life.\u00a0 Very brilliant and effortlessly written, I loved it.<\/p>\n

The Slaves of Solitude\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patrick Hamilton<\/h2>\n

A fine novel, described by some as his finest, though I have read no others, set in a Henley boarding house during World War Two about the mind numbing dullness of the English when in society together.\u00a0 Underneath the polite nothings of conversation are seething hatreds and cruel tortures.\u00a0 Miss Roach, through whose eyes we see everything, is horribly tormented by the cruel and pathetic non entity Mr. Thwaites, a sadistic prat who is both pompous and useless and the major comic thrust of the novel, with his clich\u00e9d language and his rush to judge and destroy. He wastes no time tormenting Miss Roach whose essential niceness is sorely tested by his irritating attacks.\u00a0 Into this cold-bed of turmoil come two outsiders, an alcoholic American Lieutenant, and a blonde haired German refugee Vicki whom Miss Roach has been attempting to aid.\u00a0 The one flirts wildly with her, while the other wastes no time scoring off her, so she is puzzled and confused and unhappy.<\/p>\n

There is a kind of genre of Boarding House novels which reflect a certain time in English society when people not related were forced to lodge and dine together.\u00a0\u00a0 It seems to me that this has come to an end, although Kingsley Amis\u2019 The Old Devils<\/em> is a relic of it.\u00a0\u00a0 This is a very fine example of the genre and the kind of patient suffering the British had to endure during the long length of World War Two.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So Long, See You Tomorrow\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Maxwell.<\/h2>\n

Slightly concerned not to notice at first I read this in January.\u00a0\u00a0 This is what I wrote then.\u00a0 \u201cThe most magnificent short novel.\u00a0\u00a0 Glorious.\u00a0 Beautiful written.\u00a0 Like the essence of a novel.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 I suppose the good news of age is one can keep re-reading the same book!<\/p>\n

June<\/h1>\n

Rules of Civility\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Amor Towles<\/h2>\n

Hailed by many as a brilliant, wonderful, magnificent first novel, and it is that, a first<\/em> novel, I found a little voice in my head wondering whether it was truly authentic.\u00a0\u00a0 Two things bothered me:\u00a0 the period (1938) and the leading character who is the narrative voice in the story.\u00a0 I never really believed in her.\u00a0 I felt that she was too good to be true, and that who she ended up with, was entirely random.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t convinced by the period either.\u00a0 I thought that many of the characters had been drawn from literature and not from life.\u00a0 Even the whole idea of the poor outsider female making good in the glittering world of New York seemed familiar (Breakfast at Tiffany\u2019s, Sophie\u2019s Choice, Sally Bowles etc.) and although very well written and constantly entertaining it reminded me of a certain kind of black and white Woody Allen film romanticising NY:\u00a0\u00a0 a movie of a story rather than the story of a movie.\u00a0 Everything happened because it needed to on a Hollywood level.\u00a0 And so despite heavy recommendations from people I respect I offer these unnecessarily carping thoughts of an excellent read and will hold my opinion until I read his next.<\/p>\n

The Night Manager\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

Having watched the TV version twice I loved it so much, it was fascinating to finally read the novel, which somehow I had missed.\u00a0 Also fascinating to see the differences in the excellent TV script, not merely setting the whole Roper episodes in Marbella, instead of the West Indies, which I get, but this was far more about the dark interior of Pine, and his instant love for Jed, because of his guilt over the\u00a0 murder of Freddie Hamid\u2019s mistress.\u00a0\u00a0 What stole the TV show was the brilliant Tom Holland as Corcoran, and the added satisfaction of his demise, not at all in the book, plus the wonderful performance of Hugh Lawrie as Roper, \u201cthe most awful man in the world.\u201d\u00a0 This is like the same story but from a different Gospel. His writing is very good indeed and it\u2019s well worth the read even if you have loved the small screen version.<\/p>\n

Maigret at Picratt\u2019s\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

One of the least interesting Maigret\u2019s I have ever read, probably because the victim whom we like, gets killed in the opening chapters and we never meet the killer till he is arrested.<\/p>\n

Rock Solid\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anna Grayson<\/h2>\n

A Natural History Museum Publication and one of the most fascinating and useful books I have ever read.\u00a0\u00a0 Short, simple, lavishly illustrated.\u00a0\u00a0 All you\u2019ll ever need to know about the geological history of the British Isles.\u00a0 Which is totally and utterly fascinating.\u00a0 How young we are!<\/p>\n

May<\/h1>\n

Into the Water\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paula Hawkins<\/h2>\n

This book is at first confusing.\u00a0 I found it hard to keep up with the multiple changes of character and viewpoint. \u00a0In fact I thought about bailing but I’m glad I didn’t; I persisted and I was rewarded. \u00a0She keeps it together and delivers.\u00a0 \u00a0In a way she’s a modern Agatha Christie, except she is a far better writer and her characters have real life.\u00a0\u00a0What I mean is that it is the whodunit aspect which keeps you going.\u00a0 \u00a0She is a very sophisticated story teller.\u00a0\u00a0We\u00a0\u00a0know that from The Girl on the Train.\u00a0\u00a0But this story will be clearer in the inevitable movie.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I sound carping but I very much enjoyed the second half of the novel, once I’d managed to sort out who was who (and there are about ten narrators) then I became intrigued by the tale and surprised by what I thought was the ending.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Actually it wasn’t. \u00a0Like a cocktail she adds a final twist.\u00a0\u00a0I’m not sure whether I believed the final revelation.\u00a0\u00a0It was more bewildering than satisfying.\u00a0\u00a0It didn’t seem to need it.\u00a0\u00a0That’s what happens when you hold your cards close to your chest.\u00a0\u00a0You can’t see the winning hand properly.<\/p>\n

South and West\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joan Didion<\/h2>\n

If ever you needed to think Joan Didion was over rated this book will do it.\u00a0\u00a0Almost a parody, it’s a virtual catalogue of inconsequential things and unimportant observations about uninteresting places. This is from her notebooks, where it should have stayed, far from the greed of publishers.<\/p>\n

Three Minutes to Doomsday\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joe Navarro<\/h2>\n

The good news is Joe Navarro suspects he is an asshole.\u00a0 The bad news is, he is.\u00a0\u00a0 This over-written, over-long, hyper ventilated tale is filled with the sound of one hand clapping himself on the back.\u00a0 Not only is this detection of a spy from the late 80\u2019s not the most significant act of espionage in the last one hundred years, it\u2019s not even the most interesting.\u00a0 I guess when you are an ex-FBI guy you have to do something with your time.\u00a0 He should take up golf.<\/p>\n

The Killing of Osama Bin Laden\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Seymour M. Hersh<\/h2>\n

Important corrections to history.\u00a0 The killing of Bin Laden took place in no way we were told.\u00a0 And the latest sarin gas attack was not necessarily Assad\u2019s.\u00a0 The truth is the first casualty of war.\u00a0 Only now do we learn of the fearful loss of civilian life in Trump\u2019s first adventures in warfare.\u00a0 Once again the vital importance of journalism and honest reporting is made clear.\u00a0 How to balance that against the need for State secrecy in the battle against terrorism is the issue.<\/p>\n

The Hidden Life of Trees\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter Wohlleben<\/h2>\n

What they feel, How they Communicate.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Discoveries from a Secret World.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cA Spruce in Sweden is more than 9,500 years old. 115 times the human lifetime.\u201d\u00a0 One of many amazing facts about trees which I shamefully knew nothing about. Written essentially, by a German Lumberjack, this book will amaze anyone.\u00a0 Who knew?\u00a0 I kept saying.<\/p>\n

4.50 From Paddington\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Agatha Christie<\/h2>\n

First edition 1957 picked up from Hatchards, this is a Miss Marple story. The amusingly named Mrs McGillicuddy witnesses a murder on a train passing hers in the same direction. Ignored by authorities and with no dead body turning up Miss Marple encourages the exceptionally efficient and most unlikely and unlikely named Miss Eylesbarrow to pursue the case into the heart of the even more unlikely named Crackenthorpe family.\u00a0 Perfectly enjoyable train fare, it is still a long way from Simenon.\u00a0 The characters are never entirely real and the pleasure lies in the whodunit puzzle which it is impossible to pick or predict because she has set it up that way.<\/p>\n

The Comedians\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

A magnificent 1965 novel (I found a nice 1981 Viking reissue on my bookshelf) this is classic Greene.\u00a0\u00a0 His black comedy is superbly appropriate here in the heart of Haiti under the mad dictator Papa Doc Duvalier and his Tonton Macoutes.\u00a0 The country is sliding into chaos and random murder.\u00a0 Three characters meet on a boat headed to Port au Prince:\u00a0 comedically they are Smith, Jones and Brown.\u00a0 Brown, the narrator, owns The Trianon a once popular hotel which he has been in NY trying hopelessly to sell.\u00a0\u00a0 The Smiths are two militant vegetarians from the heart of America intent on encouraging world peace through lack of meaty acidity.\u00a0 Jones, or Major Jones, as he likes to be called, is the kind of mysterious Alec Guinness innocent around whom the plot revolves.\u00a0 Brilliantly worked out and with Greene\u2019s typical take on an adulterous romance, it is a glittering gem of a book.\u00a0 One to savour and revisit.\u00a0 We are all comedians, says Greene, at least in the French sense of playing out our roles, even if we are not all funny.<\/p>\n

Difficulties with Girls\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kingsley Amis<\/h2>\n

First edition 1988.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAbout a man who falls in love with his wife\u201d says the FT.\u00a0 A philandering publisher Patrick Standish moves into a new block of restored flats with his wife Jenny and they interact with others, the fighting gay couple, the grasping wife of a British loser etc. all of whom are superbly delineated in character and speech.\u00a0 An excellent novel and a great read.<\/p>\n

The Fatal Tree\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jake Arnott<\/h2>\n

Jake Arnott is a brilliant novelist who needs a good editor.\u00a0 He seems to be going backwards.\u00a0 Here a perfectly fine setting for a novel of 18th<\/sup> Century bawdry is spoiled by endless canting and obscure phrases from its contemporary underground world of crooks and whores and highwaymen and lawyers.\u00a0 You just get tired of the language and can\u2019t lose yourself in the story.\u00a0 Moll Flanders in Palare<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Money, Murder, and Dominick Dunne\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Hofler<\/h2>\n

Wonderful, gossipy, very readable, biography of the extraordinary life Dominick Dunne carved out of hip, hype, and horror to become the most celebrated of court room journalists.\u00a0 It would have been worth the easy ride if I had learned only that Nancy Reagan was famous for fellatio!\u00a0 The first lady of Frenching\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Published.<\/p>\n

April<\/h1>\n

The Twat from Oz.<\/h2>\n

The nauseating, self-centred memoirs, of a talentless name-dropping star fucker.<\/p>\n

The Rich Man\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Another of the great series of psychological novels. I found a1971 First English (US) Edition at Iliad.\u00a0 Simenon is so wonderful about sex.\u00a0 He is completely non-judgemental.\u00a0 He describes it as it is.\u00a0 Something humans do.\u00a0 That can lead to crime, or just something to do after a decent bottle of white wine.\u00a0 This may be because he is French (well Belge) and also because that is what he did with a good deal of his time.\u00a0 He not only wrote more novels than anyone, he had more sex than anyone.\u00a0 Probably that\u2019s why his books are so short.\u00a0\u00a0 Short they may be, but they are deceptively complex.\u00a0 He has a deep understanding of the human condition, and writes about it superbly.\u00a0 Here we are with Victor Lecoin, who makes up for his sexless marriage, by having sex with locals and prostitutes, with his wife\u2019s understanding.\u00a0 He completely falls for and becomes entirely obsessed with a rather plain 16 year old maid called Alice and tries desperately but without success to keep his hands off her.. and Simenon still manages to land a surprising end.<\/p>\n

No Man\u2019s Land\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (and A Stranger\u2019s Hand)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

A couple of rediscovered Graham Greene novellas.\u00a0\u00a0 Both worth a read. \u00a0The former, a short spy novel set in Yugoslavia, and the latter set in Venice with a small, lonely ten year old English boy, waiting to meet his father.\u00a0\u00a0 The latter was turned into a film, but he only wrote this first opening piece.\u00a0 It\u2019s still amazing. \u00a0There is a foreword by David Lodge.\u00a0\u00a0 I like Greene\u2019s film treatment stories, The Fallen Idol, The Third Man etc. and Lodge perceptively points out that \u201cGraham Greene belonged to the first generation of British writers who grew up with the movies, and his work, like that of his contemporaries Evelyn Waugh, Henry Green and Christopher Isherwood, was deeply influenced by the new medium.\u00a0 What Greene learnt from cinema was how to hold his readers in the coils of a suspenseful plot while exploring moral and metaphysical themes, and how to evoke character and milieu with the verbal equivalent of cinematic close-ups and pans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another Great Day at Sea\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Geoff Dyer<\/h2>\n

Geoff Dyer spends time on a US Carrier in the Gulf.\u00a0 I got the big photographic version of this book but never read it.\u00a0 This I love, because he is such a great observer, and honest writer.\u00a0 He makes no attempt to hide his own crankiness and manages to get himself a single stateroom, and eventually decent food,\u00a0 almost unheard of on this huge floating, deafening island.\u00a0\u00a0 But he meets people and paints them wonderfully.\u00a0 I enjoyed every sentence.<\/p>\n

This Gun For Hire\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

\u201cMurder didn\u2019t mean much to Raven. It was just a new job.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A fascinating spy novel about a hare-lipped, double-crossed assassin and his attempts to revenge himself on the people who employed him to shoot a good man in order to create a European war for profit.\u00a0 Originally published in 1936 in England under the title This Gun for Sale. <\/em>I\u2019ve been attracted to re-reading some of the lesser known novels in my collection of his books.\u00a0 He is that good.<\/p>\n

Prussian Blue\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

One of the great delights was finding this new Philip Kerr Bernie Gunther novel in Hatchards.\u00a0 Alas not signed, but I devoured it on my return, dreading reaching the end. It\u2019s set in Hitler\u2019s winter white house of Berchtesgaden.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t trust Berliners.\u00a0 Only Bavarians.\u00a0 It\u2019s so fascinating to read about the\u00a0 corrupt Nazi world of his henchmen and cohorts, all busy building Villas next to the leader, and the mass of tunnels they\u2019re constructing under the mountains, even before he has gone to war.\u00a0 Wonderfully ironic that he should be finally forced to suicide in Berlin, instead of in his billion dollar custom-built, air conditioned Bavarian bunkers. \u00a0Here Bernie is brought in by Martin\u00a0 Bormann to solve a murder on the terrace of Hitler\u2019s newly constructed tea-house before the leader gets there to celebrate his fiftieth birthday.\u00a0 Nazis are only a minority election away\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 This is as good as any of them and incredibly readable.\u00a0 I could start it right away again.\u00a0 Can\u2019t wait for the Tom Hanks TV series.<\/p>\n

Striptease\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0I found this Review Copy of the First American edition at the Iliad.\u00a0 Published September 20th<\/sup> 1989.\u00a0 I love these non Maigret novels.\u00a0 This one is set in a strip club in Nice.\u00a0 He is so brilliant with his characters.\u00a0 His style seems so simple, yet he paints scenes so clearly.\u00a0 I could read it again now.<\/h2>\n

The Patient\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Another one of the non Maigret\u2019s. I picked up this 1963 first edition at Hatchards.\u00a0 It\u2019s about a successful businessman and newspaper editor who suffers a debilitating attack of hemiplegia. His loss of interest in life and the medical attempts to bring him back to \u201clife\u201d is clearly about Simenon\u2019s own experience.\u00a0 A great example of being able to tell the truth about life more accurately in fiction.<\/p>\n

Sylvia\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Leonard Michaels.<\/h2>\n

I left this highly autobiographical first novel, about first love in New York, behind in London.\u00a0 And also this next book:<\/p>\n

The Crofter and the Laird\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John McPhee<\/h2>\n

About the author taking his family to spend some months on the lonely windswept Scottish island of Colonsay.\u00a0\u00a0 I hope they forgave him\u2026 Cruel and unnecessary paternity it seems to me.\u00a0 The island is now owned by an English solicitor from Brighton.\u00a0 It is interesting to learn that before the foul Highland clearances (an early form of ethnic cleansing by the English on the defeated Scots after Culloden) this island was home to thousands of crofters.\u00a0 Perhaps luckily for them they all moved to Canada.<\/p>\n

Snowdrops\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A. D. Miller<\/h2>\n

This is a very good book.\u00a0 Occasionally I felt he was on the verge of making it a great book.\u00a0\u00a0 I think it won\u2019t be long.\u00a0 He can write.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSnowdrops\u201d are bodies left in the snow and found in the spring in Moscow when the ice melts.\u00a0 He brings the metaphor home nicely. \u201cThat\u2019s what I learned when my last Russian winter thawed.\u00a0 The lesson wasn\u2019t about Russia.\u00a0 It never is, I don\u2019t think, when a relationship ends.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t your lover that you learn about. You learn about yourself.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I was the man on the other side of the door.\u00a0 My snowdrop was me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Set in Moscow about corruption and relationships.<\/p>\n

Maigret Takes a Room\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Patience is one of Maigret\u2019s greatest virtues.\u00a0 He waits.\u00a0 He watches.\u00a0 Then they crack.\u00a0\u00a0 Here he moves into a well-kept boarding house, where all is not what it seems.<\/p>\n

General Macarthur \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Manchester<\/h2>\n

A long and fascinating biography by a long and fascinating biographer.\u00a0\u00a0 I knew nothing about the General.\u00a0 Now I know too much.\u00a0 Actually that\u2019s not really true.\u00a0 Manchester is such a fascinating writer that what interests him interests us.\u00a0 Or in this case, me.\u00a0\u00a0 On My I Pad as it is a long and rather heavy book.\u00a0 I\u2019m still only up to half way through WW2 before the retaking of the Philippines and it assures me I have 9 hours to go, so I think it will be travelling with me.\u00a0 Manchester sees both his flaws and his genius and is fair to both.<\/p>\n

Spring Fever\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 P .G. Wodehouse<\/h2>\n

A book I hadn\u2019t quite finished before I had to leave for Europe.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t yet picked it up again.\u00a0 He is really funny.\u00a0 I have an entire collection of his novels by the Overlook Press and have shamefully neglected them.\u00a0\u00a0 They sit in my bedroom ruefully mocking me, but one day, when I can\u2019t leave my bedroom I shall be grateful for them.\u00a0 Stock piling for that rainy day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Ides of March.\u00a0 \u00a0Thru End of March.<\/h1>\n

UK.\u00a0 London.\u00a0 Cambridge. \u00a0Copenhagen.<\/h1>\n

I read two books back to back which seemed coincidentally connected in theme – The Hand by Georges Simenon and The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

The Hand \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

This is a very fine book indeed, and reveals just what a good novelist Simenon is, especially here where Maigret is not only not involved, but it is set in a snow storm in Connecticut, far from Paris and the French.\u00a0 Simply and clearly written with four characters, it\u2019s about how little we really know of each other.\u00a0 The unhappy local lawyer Donald Dodd discovers in the accidental death of his best friend Ray in a blizzard, that he didn\u2019t like him at all, and he may even have murdered him.\u00a0 He comes to realise he really cannot stand his long time wife Isabel who seems to just look at and through him.\u00a0 His life is torn apart by his passion for Ray\u2019s wife Mona, a physical affair, at the end of which he is faced with emptiness and misunderstanding.\u00a0\u00a0 It is \u201ca devastating psychological novel\u2026which\u2026delves into the lies we tell ourselves and the darkness within us.\u201d\u00a0 Published in 1968 in French, part of a series of books known as Les Romans Durs,<\/em> and as John Banville notes \u201cthey are tough, bleak, offhandedly violent, suffused with guilt and bitterness, redolent of place\u2026.utterly unsentimental, frightening in the pitilessness of their gaze, yet wonderfully entertaining.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 This is by far the best of them I have read so far.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Fear\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

An Entertainment.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Published in 1943.<\/p>\n

Greene\u2019s very well-written thriller is set in 1941 in the Blitz, where the central character, Arthur Rowe, suffers from self-loathing because, as we learn, he has killed his wife, but solely to free her from pain.\u00a0 For this he has been found not guilty and confined for a while to a mental hospital.\u00a0 He emerges into a confusing world of random violence from the skies, the nightly bombing raids from Germany, and accidental interaction with some banal characters at a Fete who puzzle and confuse him when he wins a cake in a raffle.<\/p>\n

It seems to me the novel owes a lot to John Buchan (The 39 Steps) It is largely all action with mysterious foreign spies engaged in a conspiracy with an overseas power.\u00a0 Greene\u2019s tale is empowered by love, the love of a sympathetic sister, and is resolved through it.\u00a0\u00a0 Rowe is empowered and escapes his past.\u00a0 Again, like the Simenon,\u00a0 there is the issue of self-loathing, or lack of self-knowledge and a yearning desire for self-destruction.<\/p>\n

Maigret and The Man on The Beach\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Maigret as a close observer of human behaviour is engrossed by a single detail of a man, found stabbed to death in an alley. He wears goose shit green shoes.\u00a0 But why<\/em>, when he is so dull otherwise?<\/p>\n

Hidden Killers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lynda La Plante<\/h2>\n

An airport buy, and a perfect travel book,\u00a0\u00a0 WPC Jane Tennison is a genuinely original Detective character creation, and of course it helps that we cannot read about her without picturing the brilliant and extraordinary Helen Mirren, but nevertheless Madame La Plante is a very good creator of story and the thriller genre.\u00a0 She knows about plot and her stories are gripping.\u00a0\u00a0 I enjoyed it and it took me happily to Denmark and back.<\/p>\n

The Man Who Watched The Trains Go By\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Not exactly a Maigret, but Inspector Lucas is involved peripherally.\u00a0 It\u2019s a portrait of madness.\u00a0 A comfortable middle aged Dutch clerk goes off the rails when he discovers his employer is a cheat and a fraudster.\u00a0\u00a0 He does a runner, leaving wife, hearth and family, to the puzzlement of the world.\u00a0 To him he has discovered sanity.\u00a0\u00a0 A man on the run from himself, and the constraints of life.\u00a0\u00a0 A Roman Dur.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Published.<\/p>\n

January\/ February\/ middle March.<\/h1>\n

Berlin Noir\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr
\nStuck in bed with a broken ankle I turned to Philip Kerr and re-read with great pleasure the first three great Bernie Gunther novels:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 March Violets, The Pale Criminal <\/em>and A German Requiem.<\/em>\u00a0 The first set in pre-war Berlin, the second towards the end of WW2 and the third in Vienna, during the filming of The Third Man.\u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0He is really good, and re-reading is a total joy.<\/h3>\n

A Hero of France\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alan Furst<\/h2>\n

People recommend Alan Furst in the same category as Philip Kerr, but he doesn\u2019t hold up to the amazingly researched and extraordinary daring of PK.\u00a0\u00a0 The Bernie Gunther novels are in the first person which allows him to make hilarious derogatory remarks about the Nazis, and to my mind he is funnier and sharper than Chandler, to whom he is often compared.<\/p>\n

Maigret at the Coroner\u2019s\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

And then of course there is Simenon, who is like eating fine patisserie between long gourmet dinners.<\/p>\n

This one sees Maigret is in the USA attending a Coroner\u2019s investigation of what might be a murder.\u00a0 His puzzlement over American methods is great.\u00a0 He cannot help but become involved.<\/p>\n

My Friend Maigret\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

An officer from Scotland Yard is studying Maigret\u2019s methods when a call sends them off to an island off the Cote D\u2019Azur.<\/p>\n

I have been doing research and gave myself a quick course in Biology.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Amongst the books I perused:<\/h3>\n

Life Ascending.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nick Lane<\/h3>\n

What is Life?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Addy Pross<\/p>\n

Life on a Young Planet\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Andrew H. Knoll<\/p>\n

Ever Since Darwin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Jay Gould<\/p>\n

A New History of Life\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter Ward & Joe Kirschvink<\/p>\n

The Greatest Show on Earth\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Dawkins\u00a0\u00a0 (which rather flatteringly contains the entire text of a parody lyric I wrote for Python called \u201cAll Things Dull and Ugly..\u201d)<\/p>\n

The Princess Diarist\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carrie Fisher<\/h2>\n

While she may have been uncertain herself, one thing Carrie Fisher certainly was is a fine writer.\u00a0 From the evidence of her earliest writing on Star Wars here it\u2019s clear she can express herself in words.\u00a0\u00a0 Revealingly she says she likes to write because it slows down her thoughts so she can finish one.\u00a0 Not only is it heart rending that she has gone so young, it is sad because we miss out on the writing she might yet have done.<\/p>\n

And yet\u2026.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Hitchens<\/h2>\n

Wonderful essays on everyone and everything.<\/p>\n

Believe Me\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eddie Izzard<\/h2>\n

Brief memoirs.\u00a0\u00a0 His publisher seeking a quote.\u00a0\u00a0 I sent:\u00a0 \u201cEddie Izzard is my favourite stand up chameleon.\u201d\u00a0 I’m puzzled by his lack of reference or thanks to Python and me, picking him up at Aspen in 1998, and then us buying out his entire first night in LA.\u00a0 It was the same in the documentary his girl-friend made.\u00a0\u00a0 My part was written out.\u00a0\u00a0 It was all Robin Williams (who did it after we did.) Then Tania remembered.\u00a0\u00a0 This same lady borrowed our lovely cleaning lady Delilah, and treated her rottenly.\u00a0\u00a0 So badly she refused to go back.\u00a0\u00a0 Aha that explains it!\u00a0\u00a0 Cuntishness rears its ugly head again.<\/p>\n

So Long, See You Tomorrow\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Maxwell.<\/h2>\n

The most magnificent short novel.\u00a0\u00a0 Glorious.\u00a0 Beautiful written.\u00a0 Like the essence of a novel.<\/p>\n

Maigret and The Old Lady \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon.<\/h2>\n

He can take a character and create a whole novel out of it. This is about a sweet little old lady who comes to Paris to ask Maigret to come to the Le Havre coast to solve the murder of her servant.<\/p>\n

Sapiens\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yuval Noah Harari<\/h2>\n

A mighty book in all senses.\u00a0\u00a0 About us, and who we are and how we came to be so.<\/p>\n

The Undoing Project\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Lewis<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Late December<\/h1>\n

Memory Wall\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Doerr<\/h2>\n

Sending out for emergency supplies on Amazon, this is a beauty book of short stories by a wonderful writer who I discovered this year.\u00a0\u00a0 I love it.<\/p>\n

Tangled Vines\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Frances Dinkelspiel<\/h2>\n

A true story about an arsonist amongst the Napa vineyards, the emergence, growth, survival and rebirth of California wines.\u00a0 Interesting.\u00a0 He destroyed millions of dollars\u2019 worth of vintage wines.<\/p>\n

Conclave\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Harris<\/h2>\n

A surprisingly good read.\u00a0 Surprising, not because he isn\u2019t good, he is, but I didn\u2019t think he\u2019d grip me with a yarn about a Papal election.\u00a0\u00a0 But he did.\u00a0 I loved it.<\/p>\n

Human Universe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Professor Brian Cox<\/h2>\n

I had a good read of this.\u00a0 It\u2019s covered in highlights and I need it again as I\u2019m taking up Act Two of the Universe.<\/p>\n

Oliver Twist\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles Dickens<\/h2>\n

This time on Kindle.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I liked it.\u00a0 Then I thought the Fagin portrait was really anti-semitic, then I switched to<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

David Copperfield\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When I realised if I was going to re-read Dickens I\u2019d want Bleak House or Dorrit.<\/p>\n

The Last Tycoon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald<\/h2>\n

Watching a bad movie adaptation by Amazon led me to the original.\u00a0\u00a0 Was it really about the effect of the Nazi\u2019s on the Studios in Hollywood?\u00a0 Of course not.\u00a0 But after the elegant opening of the book I was struck by how unfinished it was.\u00a0 And how far from being a masterpiece it is.\u00a0 I used to like it a lot.\u00a0 This time I didn\u2019t.\u00a0 Two previous readings.<\/p>\n

Previous:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 September 2010\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Last Tycoon F. Scott Fitzgerald.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read on the plane flying from London to LA.\u00a0\u00a0 Interesting because of the notes and the insights into how much work he put into constructing his novels and characters.\u00a0 His writing seems to come effortlessly to him but here we see that there is indeed a great deal of effort in it and he is harshly self-critical.\u00a0 He writes \u201cOnly Fair\u201d opposite one paragraph.\u00a0 These notes in many ways are more valuable than the unfinished novel because they show the artist in mid brush stroke.\u00a0 The only thing I don\u2019t find convincing on re-reading is the narrator \u2013 the female character Cecilia.\u00a0\u00a0 Does he ever try and inhabit another female narrator?\u00a0 She doesn\u2019t really come alive for me.\u00a0 I still love the Pat Hobby stories for the shabby view of Hollywood, but here you see that Fitzgerald was seen and appreciated for what he is, when he first went to Hollywood.\u00a0 Stahr really knows him and admires him.<\/em><\/p>\n

Christmas Carol\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles Dickens<\/h2>\n

Timely re-reading of this touching story of redemption.\u00a0 Find the child.\u00a0\u00a0 Even Scrooge comes from some unhappy childhood.\u00a0 His emotional connection with his past as we see how he got to be him, prepares him for his great moment of reconnection with mankind.\u00a0 Has led me into Oliver Twist.<\/p>\n

The Writer\u2019s Cut\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eric Idle<\/h2>\n

Hadn\u2019t read it in a long time and it made me chuckle.\u00a0 On my I Phone.\u00a0 Trying to decide whether to do a reading of it.\u00a0 Happy to find it funny.<\/p>\n

Moonglow\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Chabon<\/h2>\n

I loved it.\u00a0 Read it in Cedars.\u00a0 We shared a little email exchange about the effects of meds on reading.\u00a0 Oddly afterwards I think he was right.\u00a0 Don\u2019t trust your reactions on meds.\u00a0 When I returned to it I couldn\u2019t get into it again so much and I\u2019m, not sure whether the meds had changed my reaction or whether they had caused me to enjoy it more.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Published November 2016.\u00a0 Found a signed edition.<\/p>\n

Heroes of the Frontier\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dave Eggers<\/h2>\n

On Kindle.\u00a0 Married woman flees with her kids to Alaska.\u00a0 Perhaps a film that became a book?\u00a0 I see I\u2019m only half way through, which is good, because I can go back to it.<\/p>\n

The Schooldays of Jesus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J. M .Coetzee<\/h2>\n

A puzzling book which I really enjoyed.\u00a0 I\u2019m still not sure what it has to do with Jesus, and it ended abruptly.\u00a0 A man finds a lost boy on a ship to South America and takes him to a new life.\u00a0 But he is really the lost boy, and cannot find his feelings or emotions, either with the boy or the boy\u2019s mother.\u00a0 They place him in a weird Music and Dance Academy where he soars, only to be involved in a brutal murder of his adorable teacher by his adored friend the janitor Dmitri.\u00a0 The novel explores, but doesn\u2019t finally resolve the need for forgiveness.<\/p>\n

Pure Imagination\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Leslie Bricusse<\/h2>\n

Pure delight from the long and wonderful Musical Career of Leslie Bricusse.\u00a0 President of Footlights, he paved the way to Broadway writing so many brilliant songs, often with Anthony Newley.\u00a0\u00a0 If I Ruled the world.\u00a0 What Kind of Fool Am I?\u00a0 Gonna Build a Mountain.\u00a0\u00a0 You Only Live Twice\u2026.I could go on but Sammy Davis Jr. recorded 60 of his songs\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 An inspiration and delightful company.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Posted<\/em><\/h1>\n

Christmas Book List<\/h1>\n

Here\u2019s what I have selected to send to selected friends.\u00a0 I get them packaged with brown paper and ceiling wax and sent from Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights | <\/a>in Bath.<\/h3>\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com \u203a Places \u203a Bath, United Kingdom \u203a Book Store<\/p>\n

Ending Up\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kingsley Amis<\/h2>\n

Dynasty \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Holland.<\/h2>\n

Maigret Gets Angry\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Madame Maigret\u2019s Friend\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

The Pigeon Tunnel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

Nutshell.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian McEwan<\/h2>\n

The Hotel on Place Vendome\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tilar J. Mazzeo<\/h2>\n

All the Light We Cannot See\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Doerr<\/h2>\n

The Orphan Masters Son.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Adam Johnson<\/h2>\n

Dead is Best\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jo Perry<\/h2>\n

December<\/h1>\n

All That Man Is.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Szalay<\/h2>\n

A fine novel, really nine interlinked short stories, about the frustrations of man.\u00a0 From all ages of men, with their disappointments, hopes, dreams and lives exposed as nothing in the stream of time.\u00a0 The book is carefully and cleverly worked, and features many European scenes, which somehow all link with a rather bleak view of man, and men, cars, transport and modern life.\u00a0\u00a0 I read most of it before I left but read it all again on my return.\u00a0\u00a0 He really is very good.<\/p>\n

The Rival Queens\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nancy Goldstone<\/h2>\n

The Queens are Catherine de Medici and her daughter Marguerite de Valois (married to Henri 4).<\/p>\n

Amid the madness and the religious and sibling rivalries of a French court, the St. Bartholomew\u2019s Day Massacre in Paris in August 1572, after Marguerite\u2019s forced wedding, here laid very clearly at the door of Catherine, ran the streets of Paris red with Huguenot Blood, and would lead to years of chaos and warfare.\u00a0\u00a0 Well told narrative of a period I find fascinating.<\/p>\n

October and November<\/h1>\n

(Reading on the road)<\/em><\/h1>\n

Red Gold\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alan Furst<\/em><\/h1>\n

The third of these highly readable novels set in Paris during the Occupation, all with the same protagonist Jean Casson, a film producer, scrabbling to survive under the Nazis. I have enjoyed reading all three, and there are several more, which is good news.\u00a0 Excellent travel reading.<\/p>\n

Ending Up\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kingsley Amis<\/em><\/h1>\n

Wonderful.\u00a0\u00a0 Cranky old people sharing a house.\u00a0 Remarkable.\u00a0\u00a0 Simple and funny and true.<\/p>\n

When Hitler took cocaine and Lenin lost his brain\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Giles Milton<\/em><\/h1>\n

Short bits, true stories, odd bites.\u00a0 Quite readable and occasionally quite remarkable.<\/p>\n

The World at Night.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Alan Furst<\/em><\/h1>\n

Casson the film producer is blackmailed into working for the Gestapo in occupied Paris.\u00a0\u00a0 But he escapes to find his love the actress Citrine.<\/p>\n

Mission to Paris.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Alan Furst<\/em><\/h1>\n

The beginning of the Occupation of Paris, and fun and games amongst the poor Parisians left to deal with the German Army and the Gestapo.\u00a0\u00a0 An ex-Austrian American film star shooting in Paris is manipulated by Gestapo agents.\u00a0 With Casson, a film producer, his ex-wife and current loves.<\/p>\n

Three<\/em> Ten to Yuma.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/em><\/h1>\n

Short stories.\u00a0 Western.\u00a0 Sparse and wonderful.\u00a0\u00a0 Mostly dialogue and action.\u00a0 Highly readable.<\/p>\n

Mister Hire\u2019<\/em>s Engagement.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 George Simenon<\/em><\/h1>\n

A non-Maigret brilliant book about a little man suspected of a crime.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A small masterpiece.<\/p>\n

The Old Man\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/em><\/h1>\n

Thomas very kindly sent me his latest proof as I am such a fan.\u00a0\u00a0 This one seems a little different from his previous work.\u00a0 More complicated and a bit into the territory of Le Carr\u00e9. Very readable as usual and highly enjoyable.\u00a0\u00a0 And I\u2019m sorry to say you can\u2019t get to read it for another month or two.\u00a0 But get it.<\/p>\n

In the cafe of Lost Youth.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patrick Modiano\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>A four different viewpoint short story about odd customers of a small 50’s Parisian cafe. In 2014 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature.<\/h1>\n

Prime Suspect 3.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0 Silent Victims.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lynda La Plante.<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Third and final Jane Tennison story.\u00a0 They represent a remarkable trilogy.\u00a0 Excellently written.\u00a0 Tense, taut and a quiet masterpiece of the genre.<\/h1>\n

Dynasty \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Holland.<\/em><\/h1>\n

A magnificent history of the Caesars.\u00a0 Very timely reminder of the dangers of supreme power.\u00a0 Thoroughly readable and wonderfully told.\u00a0\u00a0 From Julius to Nero.<\/p>\n

Maigret\u2019s Holiday.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>Madame Maigret poisoned on holiday mussels.\u00a0 Inside a Nun run hospital.\u00a0\u00a0 A young woman dies.\u00a0 Nun slips him a note. \u00a0Who dunnit?\u00a0 Bored Maigret moves in.<\/h1>\n

The Misty Harbour.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/em> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Fairly sure I read this before.\u00a0 But it still gripped me.\u00a0 His sense of locale, the details of sea and tide and fog are superb, with Maigret groping around in the dark as usual.<\/h1>\n

Prime Suspect\u00a0\u00a0 2:\u00a0 A Face in the Crowd\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lynda La Plante<\/h2>\n

This is Lynda La Plante at her very best.\u00a0 From 1993.\u00a0 With Jane Tennison, by now inseparable from Helen Mirren, this is what she does best;.\u00a0 revealing the sexism and the racism in the police and the general hatred of the easily misled public for them, manipulated by both Press and Politicians.\u00a0\u00a0 Short, sharp sentences, mainly action and dialogue, she tells the tale with great skill.\u00a0\u00a0 Highly readable.<\/p>\n

Wrongful Death\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lynda La Plante<\/h2>\n

Nice airplane reading.\u00a0 She is good, although this one is fairly ambitious and contains enough material for two thrillers, especially as her female detective goes off half way through on an FBI course to the States, where another case is solved.\u00a0 I did enjoy it though.<\/p>\n

Hunting Eichmann\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Neal Bascomb<\/h2>\n

It seems weird to me that when I was born there were still two years of Nazi Concentration Camp horrors to go.\u00a0 It is particularly enjoyable to read of the purple-faced fury of Hitler in the final few days of the war as the Russians entered Berlin.\u00a0 Each of the Nazis had an escape plan except him!\u00a0 This other Adolf deviant managed to evade capture for many years after the war and escaped with the help of the Catholic Church and the Red Cross to Argentina.\u00a0 Unfortunately for him not all Germans had forgotten the Nazis, although at least one was now in a high position of power in West Germany.\u00a0 Realising that Germany had lost its drive to capture Nazis Herr Brandt leaned on the at-first-doubtful Israelis to say he did indeed know the whereabouts of the by now sad little arrogant fucker called Eichmann.\u00a0 The book tells of the verifying of the identity and the capture of the man who went to the gallows unrepentant and unconvinced he had done anything wrong.\u00a0 Just obeying orders.\u00a0\u00a0 I love these books.<\/p>\n

The Truth About Lorin Jones\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alison Lurie<\/h2>\n

I really like Alison Lurie and this is a particularly fine book from 1988.\u00a0\u00a0 She is quite critical of her lesbian friend, who is revealed as utterly selfish.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A fine read.<\/h3>\n

September<\/h1>\n

Finally the first Maigret I really didn\u2019t finish\u2026<\/h2>\n

Maigret\u2019s Memoirs\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Devilish clever and post-modernist and all.\u00a0\u00a0 This is the real Parisian detective Maigret writing his memoirs about how he came to meet the Belgian writer Georges Sim, who became Georges Simenon, stealing his character and his name, his shape, his methods, simplifying his cases, and making him available to the public and even available to be played by actors who in no way resemble him.\u00a0\u00a0 His resentment of this is very clever, very smart, and funny conceptually, but it doesn\u2019t grab like a real Maigret novel.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure we want to be reminded of the fictional nature of the heroes of our novels.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s confusing and runs against some vein, as if some character in a play was constantly to remind you he was in a play.<\/p>\n

Two cracking Maigret novels.\u00a0 One from the plane and one immediately afterwards.<\/h2>\n

Maigret Gets Angry\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

A retired Maigret is drawn into a strange world by an eccentric old lady.\u00a0 Told at great pace and with great drive, it is amazing how much plot he gets out of pure dialogue and character.\u00a0 Unexpected and thrilling.<\/p>\n

Madame Maigret\u2019s Friend\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Again an unusual Maigret where Madame Maigret is drawn improbably into a puzzling situation.<\/p>\n

The Pigeon Tunnel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

The most marvellous memoirs.\u00a0 Described as \u201cStories from my life\u201d they reveal a surprising side to David Cornwell.\u00a0 Not just the wonderful people he has met, and the encounters he has had, but many sharp observations about life, secrecy, parental disappointment and what turns us into us.\u00a0 I was fascinated to see the novelist constantly at work, examining character for fictional uses, and almost always playing life back into fiction and vice versa, it\u2019s as if he is more comfortable with fiction than reality.<\/p>\n

White Sands.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Experiences from the Outside World.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Geoff Dyer<\/h2>\n

Dyer gets dryer and dryer.\u00a0 His wit and his incredible clear eye looking closely at things, plus the ease with which he slots himself into his own narrative, essay world, makes him unique and very enjoyable.<\/p>\n

The Saint Bartholomew\u2019s Day Massacre.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barbara B. Diefendorf<\/h2>\n

A Brief History with Documents.\u00a0 A short readable account of the atrocities which occurred in Paris early on the morning of August 24th<\/sup> 1572 when after a Royal marriage the Catholics massacred the visiting Protestant Huguenots by the thousands in the streets of Paris.\u00a0\u00a0 Shockingly relevant history of the endless animosities and atrocities committed in the name of religions.\u00a0\u00a0 Was it in fact Marie de Medici who planned it, and persuaded her son Charles IX to go along with it, after she had opened fire on Admiral Coligny?.\u00a0\u00a0 Still the sexiest historical movie ever made.\u00a0 La Reine Margot.<\/p>\n

Nutshell.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A novel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 Ian McEwan<\/h2>\n

Read in a day. A wonderfully accomplished original novel.\u00a0\u00a0 Told from inside the womb where his mother is plotting to betray and murder his father.\u00a0 Nice Hamlet echoes but the omniscience and anxiety for the world he accords this helpless inmate and witness to dreadful things is what makes it so witty and original and fascinating.\u00a0\u00a0 I loved it.<\/p>\n

Maigret in New York.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

An odd one this.\u00a0 A\u00a0 retired Maigret definitely a fish out of water accompanies a young man to see his father in New York who then immediately disappears.\u00a0 Who is the young man?\u00a0\u00a0 Why does he disappear?\u00a0\u00a0 What is the crime.\u00a0 Maigret wanders around New York, and finally draws the strings together of thirty year old events.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Strange.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How much he depends on his Parisian \u00a0milieu and how little he understands of New York.<\/p>\n

Bright Precious Days\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jay McInerney<\/h2>\n

I got about half way through this and got bored with the New York characters and their world and lovers.\u00a0 I think if you\u2019re going to do adultery you have to be at least Tolstoy.\u00a0\u00a0 I gave it another go when I got back and it still left me cold.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m sad as I had him down to become great.\u00a0 He may yet I suppose.<\/p>\n

August<\/h2>\n

The Midwich Cuckoos\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Wyndham<\/h2>\n

This is a wonderful book.\u00a0 Elegant, eloquent and prescient.\u00a0 Published in 1957 it is more than science fiction, it raises issues that trouble us today.\u00a0 I had not expected it to be so well written, with many wonderful references.\u00a0 He terrified us as children with The Day of The Triffids<\/em> on the radio.\u00a0 I\u2019m happy to find him still just as entertaining.<\/p>\n

The Sympathizer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Viet Thanh Nguyen<\/h2>\n

The fictional confessions of a Vietnamese spy, evacuated to America in the fall of Saigon and then returned to his former side, who are of course far\u00a0 worse.\u00a0 Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.\u00a0 Beautifully written and gripping novel.<\/p>\n

The Flemish Shop\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

A 1941 wartime paperback edition which says it\u2019s from \u201cMaigret to the Rescue.\u201d\u00a0 I wish I could have a new Maigret every week.<\/p>\n

\u00a0A Kim Jong-Il Production\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Fischer<\/h2>\n

A fascinating and extraordinary tale about how the North Korean film obsessed madman Kim Jung-Il kidnapped not only the leading film actress from South Korea but also her Top Film Director Husband, held them locked up for years then brought them together and made them make films!\u00a0\u00a0 A hard to credit real true story and a great look at the monomaniacal locked-in State where fear rules all.<\/p>\n

True Grit\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles Portis<\/h2>\n

A wonderful Western tale from 1968, given me by Jeremy Clarke.\u00a0 I devoured it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Do you ever get to that point when you find yourself reading four books at once and not committed to any of them, but keep switching in a random fashion between them.\u00a0\u00a0 Then you go Fuck It I’m going to stop this and look for something I’m really committed to.\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes I can’t tell if it\u2019s me or if it’s the books.\u00a0 Here are some I’m leaving by the wayside in a quest for something gripping.<\/h2>\n

The World of Christopher Marlowe.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Riggs<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve been reading this one for years.\u00a0 In parts fascinating, but it mixes somewhat dry academic literary criticism with tales of the far more exciting life of Marlowe, so it’s somewhat annoying, unless you are studying for a degree.<\/p>\n

Man Belong Mrs Queen\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Matthew Baylis<\/h2>\n

The hilarious story of the South Pacific islanders (Vanuatu) who worshipped the Duke of Edinburgh.<\/p>\n

Funny, and odd, but could have been shorter I think.<\/p>\n

A Hell of a Woman.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jim Thompson.<\/h2>\n

I was enjoying this too.\u00a0\u00a0 But he switched styles and became all modernist and I got fed up.<\/p>\n

Uncommon Carriers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John McPhee<\/h2>\n

I really liked the essay on the most beautiful truck in the world, and even the French Navigation School, but got a bit tired on the barges of the Illinois river. \u00a0\u00a0I shall dip again as I think he is amazing.<\/p>\n

July<\/h1>\n

The Hotel on Place Vendome\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tilar J. Mazzeo<\/h2>\n

A lovely read about the history and customers of the Ritz Hotel in Paris, from its founding in 1898 during the Dreyfuss Affair, through the German Occupation and beyond.\u00a0 A whole history of interesting characters wander in and out of its doors, behaving badly and bitchily, including Marcel Proust, Hemmingway, Goring, Goebbels, Marlene Dietrich, Ingrid Bergman, the awful Windsors, the collaborational Coco Chanel, Cocteau, Sartre, Scott Fitzgerald.\u00a0 Highly entertaining and most unusual social history.\u00a0 Great read.<\/p>\n

The Metaphysical Ukulele\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sean Carswell<\/h2>\n

A concept book of short stories based on \u201cwhat if there was a ukulele in it?\u201d\u00a0 Pastiches of the imaginary writings of famous people.\u00a0 In the end it\u2019s too much pastiche and I turned to a pastis.<\/p>\n

The Blue Room\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

For once not a Maigret, but an excellent tale of love and lust and female determination. Fascinating.<\/p>\n

Everybody Behaves Badly\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesley M.M. Blume<\/h2>\n

Especially Hemmingway.\u00a0 The story behind The Sun Also Rises and the self-making of a legend.<\/p>\n

I have come to like Hemmingway less and less.\u00a0 Both as a writer and as a mythomaniac.\u00a0\u00a0 Sorry, but give me Fitzgerald any day.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Very enjoyable book about the real characters portrayed and betrayed in the novel.<\/p>\n

Death of a Diva\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Derek Farrell<\/h2>\n

Quite fun.<\/p>\n

About Grace\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Doerr<\/h2>\n

In search of a daughter.\u00a0 A man with foresight for disaster.\u00a0 This is a long novel, too long in my humble, but I stuck with it because he writes so well and it is interesting to see a writer becoming a master.<\/p>\n

Signed, Picpus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

So happy to always have a Maigret to grab.<\/p>\n

Hollywood Nocturnes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Elroy<\/h2>\n

Short stories by the rather rough Elroy.\u00a0 Odd echoes of Chandler with modern brutalism and old fashioned racism.<\/p>\n

More June<\/h1>\n

Inside a Pearl. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edmund White<\/h2>\n

More memoirs of an American in Paris from the beautiful prose of this very fine writer.\u00a0 It’s a very enjoyable and immensely readable recollection of the many artists and intellectuals he met in his 16 years living and writing in Paris.\u00a0 Most of the really interesting people seem to be gay, and even when he is gossipy and revealing about their sex lives, some of which are very bizarre indeed, it is always without malice and with great human sympathy.\u00a0 There is a great deal of sadness in the many lovers and friends who died of AIDS but he remains cheerfully optimistic even when, as he says, he becomes old and fat.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I bought his latest novel\u2026.<\/p>\n

Our Young Man.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edmund White<\/h2>\n

\u2026But a bit gay for me.\u00a0 Can we say that these days?\u00a0 But I do intend reading more of him, though I think he is a remarkable memoirist. Is that even a word? \u00a0\u00a0Get The Flaneur<\/em> and Inside a Pearl.<\/em><\/p>\n

Felicie. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon.<\/h2>\n

Quickie.\u00a0 All character driven by the wonderful suspicious and very difficult housekeeper of the murdered man.<\/p>\n

Talleyrand. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Duff Cooper.<\/h2>\n

Magnificent 1932 biography of this fascinating diplomat who outplayed and survived Napoleon, who called him a shit in silk Stockings.\u00a0 He saw through Napoleon, spotted the dangers of him, stuck with Louis XVIII and negotiated a strong position for France at the Congress of Vienna. Elegantly written by Duff Cooper, quondam English ambassador to France married to Lady Diana Cooper, one of the great beauties of the age.\u00a0 He writes well and almost as good as his pal Winston Churchill.<\/p>\n

Dead is Best\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jo Perry<\/h2>\n

The highly entertaining sequel to Dead is Best.\u00a0 <\/em>I read on Kindle but now in paperback.\u00a0 Lovely concept of a dead man and his dead dog.\u00a0 In this case trying to save his step daughter, which is a rather touching concept.\u00a0 I liked both books very much<\/p>\n

Before The Fall\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Noah Hawley<\/h2>\n

Paged turning thriller given to me by Conan no less.\u00a0 Enjoyable read with many dramatic twists.\u00a0 Excellent beach read.<\/p>\n

Sweetbitter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephanie Danler<\/h2>\n

22 year old lady moves to NYC and gets a job at a top restaurant where she becomes involved emotionally, intellectually and sexually with the crew of a top restaurant.\u00a0 A coming of age novel, a New York novel, and a behind the scenes at a restaurant novel, very nicely written by a very talented young lady.<\/p>\n

Death Comes to Pemberley\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 P.D.James<\/h2>\n

Continuing Pride and Prejudice as a thriller.\u00a0 Nicely done, but in the end, er\u2026not Jane Austen.<\/p>\n

Imperial Bedrooms\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bret Easton Ellis<\/h2>\n

Very gripping novel till about two thirds through and then it fell apart.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Short, good writing by a good novelist.\u00a0 A re-read. I enjoyed it more this time.<\/p>\n

The Hothouse by the East River\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

Not her best but still by her<\/em>, and she is great.\u00a0 First time for me.<\/p>\n

Territorial Rights\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark.<\/h2>\n

Set in Venice.\u00a0 Both these two first editions from Iliad.\u00a0 First read in 2001.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Published from here on website.<\/em><\/p>\n

L.A. Noir\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Buntin<\/h2>\n

An intertwined biography of the gangster Micky Parker and Police Chief William Parker, whose lives and careers went side by side in the seamy side of Los Angeles.\u00a0 Corruption, and big city crime, terminating in The Watts Riots of 64.\u00a0\u00a0 An interesting tale which could have been better told.<\/p>\n

April May<\/h1>\n

Napoleon.\u00a0\u00a0 A Life\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Andrew Roberts<\/h2>\n

A magnificent read.\u00a0 A wonderful 800 page biography of Napoleon, elegantly written, with excellent analysis of the battles and the campaigns, terminating in the Longwood House on St. Helena from stomach cancer.\u00a0 Often self-deluding, and frequently aggrandising, this is a fair minded account of the life of a great military man, and civil leader, who nevertheless spilt more French blood than anyone before or since, and lost almost 2 million dead in his sixty battles.\u00a0\u00a0 France has still not recovered from his effects on the population.\u00a0 A perfect book for the beach\u2026.<\/p>\n

All the Light We Cannot See\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Doerr<\/h2>\n

Recommended by a friend and absolutely fabulous.\u00a0 A brilliant telling of what happened in and to St. Malo and its inhabitants, and its occupiers, at the end of World War Two.\u00a0 A beautifully woven tale. A masterpiece.\u00a0 A must read.\u00a0 .<\/p>\n

Inspector Cadaver\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

The latest in this wonderful series from Penguin.\u00a0\u00a0 In his short novella world the drama always comes from characters.\u00a0\u00a0 Their pride, their greed, their fears.\u00a0 Nothing much happens except internally as Maigret tries to understand what really happened by the reactions of those around.\u00a0 Here once again he is involved in small town politics, where the rich and powerful close ranks at all costs.\u00a0 As usual he out waits them.<\/p>\n

The Mystery of Olga Chekhova\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Beevor<\/h2>\n

Sadly the mystery seems to be why anyone would bother to write a book about her\u2026<\/p>\n

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Foster Wallace.<\/h2>\n

Not brief enough for me.\u00a0\u00a0 I liked the film though.<\/p>\n

Dead Wake\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Erik Larson<\/h2>\n

The shocking attack on and sinking of the Lusitania, which virtually propelled the US into WW2, very carefully and very well told.<\/p>\n

The Nest\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cynthia D\u2019Aprix Sweeney<\/h2>\n

Ya know, it\u2019s a best seller.\u00a0 I get it.\u00a0 It\u2019s going along.\u00a0 Nothing much wrong with it.\u00a0 Then I was no longer interested.<\/p>\n

The Grown Up\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gillian Flynn<\/h2>\n

An excellent short story, with perhaps one of the very best ever opening lines:\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t stop giving hand jobs because I wasn\u2019t good at it. I stopped giving hand jobs because I was the best at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

I Met Someone\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bruce Wagner<\/h2>\n

On form Bruce.\u00a0 Happy to\u00a0 have another book from him.<\/p>\n

The Driver\u2019s Seat\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

I love her writing.\u00a0\u00a0 Here she experiments with form and has the\u00a0 victim ensure her death is achieved.\u00a0 An odd tale, imaginatively told.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the Road Reading.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 February and March<\/h1>\n

The Orphan Masters Son.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Adam Johnson<\/h2>\n

An absolutely first class brilliant book.\u00a0\u00a0 A work of fiction and imagination that seems entirely real. Set in the bizarre and foul world of Kim Il Sung\u2019s North Korea, he relentlessly exposes what it is like to live under the insane dictatorship of this poisoned state, and the contradictions in self behaviour and self correcting thought it requires to even survive.\u00a0 A brilliant and thoroughly original and unique book.\u00a0\u00a0 Masterful.<\/h3>\n

Shylock is my name.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Howard Johnson<\/h2>\n

A disappointing novel of clever ideas but unfortunately dull characters.\u00a0 I very quickly became bored, and distracted and after many attempts abandoned it in Adelaide.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to explain why except the Jewish obsession really doesn\u2019t work for me.\u00a0 Very sorry.<\/h3>\n

The Crying of Lot 49.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Pynchon<\/h2>\n

I thought I had read this, but reading the first page in a Brisbane bookshop really grabbed me.\u00a0 Now 50 pages in I\u2019m beginning to feel he\u2019s lost the thread and that the extremely funny prose that seduced me is losing its pull.\u00a0\u00a0 Will give it a bit more of a go.\u00a0 Which I did and finished by the last night, but wtf?\u00a0\u00a0 Conspiracy theory as a novel.\u00a0\u00a0 So many good things, so unsatisfactorily woven together, and so much that is frankly puzzling.<\/p>\n

The Whites\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Price<\/h2>\n

Often novels end weakly.\u00a0 The author seems to run out of steam.\u00a0 The only category of novels in which this is absolutely unacceptable is the Thriller, or Detective novel.\u00a0 The climax, the end, is the whole point.\u00a0 This one I found took me a page or two to understand and then built and built and went off like a rocket.\u00a0 I loved it.<\/p>\n

What we talk about when we talk about love\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Carver<\/h2>\n

Vintage Carver.\u00a0 Literally and publishing.\u00a0 This Vintage book 2009.\u00a0 The original from 1981.\u00a0\u00a0 So simply written, so brilliantly expressed.\u00a0 Often the same sad tale of alcohol and the falling away of love.\u00a0 These are wonderful short stories.\u00a0 He is amongst the greatest of the genre.\u00a0\u00a0 Found them in Brisbane and devoured them.<\/p>\n

Parasites Like Us\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Adam Johnson<\/h2>\n

His first novel.\u00a0\u00a0 The end of the world caused by anthropology.\u00a0 Fabulous, funny and brilliant.\u00a0 An anthropological discovery near an expanding Casino, causes fascination, theory and ultimately chaos to the whole world except the discoverers in ways you neither predict nor could foresee.\u00a0 He really is the real thing.<\/p>\n

The Noise of Time\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Barnes<\/h2>\n

An ironic life of Shostakovich or how to live under tyranny, oddly the same subject that Adam Johnson tackles so brilliantly in The Orphan Master\u2019s Son, though here done as a narrative biography of the real composer.\u00a0 Perhaps because it is based on truth and isn\u2019t fiction it fails to come to life.\u00a0\u00a0 It isn’t biography either but a strange hybrid.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to know who is telling this tale.\u00a0 It is pseudo biography but it stirs no emotions except pity.\u00a0\u00a0 You feel sympathy towards this highly gifted composer being forced to compromise for Stalin, but I think by adopting this method of telling his story it feels more like a lecture and I miss the dialogue and character at which Julian Barnes is so amazingly good.\u00a0 A puzzler.<\/p>\n

The Gap of the Time\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeanette Winterson<\/h2>\n

The Winter\u2019s Tale.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A modern rendition of the Shakespeare play.\u00a0\u00a0 The first half is absolutely brilliant.\u00a0 Gripping, thrilling and the people come bursting off the pages.\u00a0\u00a0 The second half falls apart totally.\u00a0 As I suspect so does the play but it\u2019s been a while since I saw or read it.\u00a0\u00a0 Even when we get to our longed for end, when the lost Perdita is reconciled with Leo (Leontes) and her mum comes back from the dead (as a statue in the play, as a recluse here), she cuts it short and flips into an essay on Shakespeare and his heroines.\u00a0 Because of course she, the author, is an abandoned daughter, a Perdita, and lost to her own mother, and to her that is of course more interesting than the reconciliation with a fictional mother, which never in her life happened.\u00a0\u00a0 And of course she hated her foster mother and wrote two absolutely brilliant books about this monster of a woman.\u00a0\u00a0 If it had only stopped at page 123 I would be raving about this.\u00a0 But sadly it doesn\u2019t.\u00a0\u00a0 Pity.\u00a0 What with Howard Jacobson having a go at Shylock this is quite the age of novelising Shakespeare.<\/p>\n

Fortune Smiles\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Adam Johnson<\/h2>\n

Superbly written short stories I could easily re-read again.\u00a0\u00a0 Read on Kindle on flights and in Hotel rooms on the road.\u00a0 He is just fabulous.\u00a0\u00a0 One of the stories actually concerns two North Korean defectors, which was interesting.\u00a0 He seems to know so much about the Koreas.\u00a0 The stories are: Nirvana, Hurricanes Anonymous, Interesting Facts, George Orwell Was a Friend of Mine, Dark Meadow and Fortune Smiles.<\/p>\n

Where My Heart Used to Beat\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sebastian Faulks<\/h2>\n

A sort of sentimental novel, a memory of war and love and visits to an old man on an island.\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Hendricks never quite seems to enjoy love affairs with any of the women offered up to us.\u00a0\u00a0 Instead spending his life quietly denying his thirty years regret of not being with the Italian woman Luisa he met and had an affair with during the war.\u00a0\u00a0 Anzio is described well from the British perspective and he is supposed to have written a book about new ways of looking at the mad, but all in all it feels like that rather sentimental type of movie, where the nurses wear starched white and no one quite gets to do anything.\u00a0 He is of course reconciled with Luisa once she is tragically stricken with cancer.\u00a0\u00a0 An odd thing.\u00a0 Many good things but\u2026I think I have also read by him Charlotte Gray, and The Girl at the Lion D\u2019Or.<\/p>\n

Prime Suspect\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lynda La Plante<\/h2>\n

So well and succinctly written, even if we hadn\u2019t become accustomed to Helen Mirren playing the role.\u00a0 The first case of Detective Jane Tennison, and she is up against the full prejudice of the Police force.\u00a0 This adds a piquancy to what is already a great tale.<\/p>\n

Girl in The Dark.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Marion Pauw<\/h2>\n

Amazing how good all these contemporary female thriller writers are.\u00a0 This is the English language debut of a Dutch writer.\u00a0 Masterly (mistressly?) construction, gripping and unexpected.<\/p>\n

False Nine\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

A disappointment for me in the end.\u00a0 The story of Manson, a black Scottish football player and manager and solver of crimes in and around the game.\u00a0\u00a0 The gags are good, but he fails to convince me that this guy is real.\u00a0 Even if he does get to shag all the beautiful women in the book, who throw themselves at him, this is more Bond than reality.\u00a0 I liked January Transfer but I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019ll bother with the one in between.\u00a0\u00a0 About a missing French footballer returning to Guadelope before joining Barca from PSV.\u00a0\u00a0 He writes well always, but one recurring character too many?<\/p>\n

The Mystery of Michael Black\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Adam Johnson<\/h2>\n

Thank heaven I found something finally by him I wasn\u2019t crazy about.\u00a0\u00a0 This is about a writer who writes what is about to happen.\u00a0\u00a0 A little too cute and fantasy for me.<\/p>\n

Maigret and his Dead Man.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Impeccable and reliable as ever.\u00a0\u00a0 On I-Pad<\/em><\/p>\n

The History of the Conquest of Mexico\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William H. Prescott<\/h2>\n

For the second time.\u00a0\u00a0 Magnificently written telling of the fall of Montezuma and the Aztec Empire in the face of the implacable Cortez. 150 men and 16 cavaliers, four cannon\u2026 Outrageous manipulation of will, diplomacy and determination.\u00a0 I am still avidly reading this beautifully written book first published in 1842.\u00a0 Of course he cannot from his time period entirely show that the Aztec Gods were just as weird as the Spaniards, but he can at least suggest it, and his prose is to die for.\u00a0\u00a0 And what a story.\u00a0\u00a0 Shameful, reprehensible, but world changing and it happened.\u00a0\u00a0 On I-Pad<\/em><\/p>\n

Emporium\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 Adam Johnson<\/h2>\n

Recent volume of short stories.\u00a0\u00a0 He is just so great.\u00a0 I am still reading this.\u00a0 Savouring them, and saving them, like the best chocolates in the box.\u00a0 You\u2019ve been good, now you can have another. On I-Pad<\/em><\/p>\n

Clandestine\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Elroy.<\/h2>\n

Interesting.\u00a0 Gripping.\u00a0 And at times downright weird.\u00a0\u00a0 A huge work, with great ambitions most of which it achieves.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On I-Pad<\/em><\/p>\n

The Other Side of Silence\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

And thank h. Philip Kerr came through and redeemed himself at the last whistle with another Bernie Gunther novel.\u00a0 I loved it, and it is amazing how cleverly he works real people into his stories, which accounts for their quirky reality.\u00a0 Here Somerset Maugham plays a big role, really?, yes and also Anthony Blunt.\u00a0 Good fun.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Off on Tour\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

January\/ February<\/p>\n

Monsieur Monde Vanishes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 George Simenon<\/h2>\n

An interesting Maigret.\u00a0 He starts with a mystery he immediately explains, and follows the runner, a middle aged business man weary of his dull life who escapes to the South of France.<\/p>\n

War and Peace\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Leo Tolstoy<\/h2>\n

In the fine translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. I am about half way through my third reading of this amazing book, and let\u2019s face it, probably my last\u2026. In a copy sent to me by Mike Nichols.\u00a0 As I am off on tour I shall continue reading the same translation on my I pad.\u00a0 Certainly easier on the wrist.\u00a0 Of course inspired by watching the exceptionally good BBC TV series.\u00a0 This is one of my favourite novels.<\/p>\n

The Myth of American Exceptionalism\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Godfrey Hodgson<\/h2>\n

Both an explanation of the theory of American exceptionalism through history, and how it arose, and a warning that it has now become dangerously politicised, which led in the second Bush administration to a serious of disastrous foreign policy decisions, from which America still suffers.\u00a0\u00a0 To be honest I wasn\u2019t really aware of AE, or for that matter Manifest Destiny, so I\u2019m catching up.\u00a0 Good book to start.\u00a0 He is very gentle with America, which makes his case far more effective.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy thesis is not that American exceptionalist thought is intrinsically corrupting or that it was destructive in the past, but that what has been essentially a liberating set of beliefs has been corrupted over the past thirty years or so by hubris and self-interest into what is now a dangerous basis for national policy and for the international system.\u201d\u00a0 A thought provoking and interesting book.<\/p>\n

April 1865\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jay Winik<\/h2>\n

The Month that Saved America<\/em><\/p>\n

A wonderful book, beautifully written, with great thought, about the enormous changes wrought in this month to America.\u00a0 From the fall of Richmond, to the noble and dignified surrender of Lee to the courteous wisdom of U.S. Grant at Appomattox, and the other brave decisions of the Southern Commanders to relinquish arms, rather than committing the nation to endless guerrilla warfare.\u00a0 The assassination of Lincoln only six days after the actor Booth shot him in the theatre might have revived the whole bloody mess, but mercifully it didn\u2019t.\u00a0 A very fine book with unforgettable scenes right to the end when the extraordinary General Lee joins a black communicant kneeling at the altar rail before a shocked community in a Richmond Church.\u00a0 So many great moments.\u00a0 A really thoughtful, succinct, yet wide-ranging tale of a nation almost rending itself in half, but coming together at the last moment.\u00a0 A classic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I caught the flu and in my delirium I dipped into many books.\u00a0 Some of them I did not finish.\u00a0\u00a0 The fault, if there be any, is mine. I may or may not take them up again for I must leave on a long journey soon and they cannot come with me.\u00a0\u00a0 So for the fallen, a salute:<\/em><\/p>\n

Herzog\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saul Bellow<\/h2>\n

I know many people, the wonderful Christopher Hitchins for one, who adore this book.\u00a0\u00a0 I got about half way through.\u00a0 He is very good, but he doesn\u2019t do what some other writers do for me, which is make themselves indispensable in my life.\u00a0\u00a0 I will return\u2026<\/p>\n

The Narrow Road to The Deep North\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Flanagan.<\/h2>\n

I was enjoying this Booker Prize Winner of 2014, an Australian tale of sons, and fathers suffering on the Burma Railroad.\u00a0\u00a0 And oh how they suffered, and oh how few came back, to the shame of the honour of the Japanese nation.\u00a0 The book contains important lessons about individualism against Fascism.\u00a0 The modern world has embraced the individual.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That is the way forward.\u00a0 In many ways World War Two is a moral triumph of the individuals of a nation against the mass forces of insanity, led by single insane leaders.\u00a0 About half way through.<\/p>\n

A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again: An Essay \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0David Foster Wallace. (Digital Original)<\/h2>\n

A fun essay about his week on a Caribbean Cruise Liner for a glossy Magazine inspired me to read:<\/p>\n

Infinite Jest\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Foster Wallace.<\/h2>\n

I shall not finish this before I leave on my journey, 150 of 1,000 paperback pages.\u00a0 A richly textured, extremely dense novel, I think his second, set in a tennis training camp for young men (such as the one he attended) but here in Phoenix, Arizona, it is intriguingly leading off in many other directions, most of which seem more promising and one hopes he will get on with it.\u00a0\u00a0 Prolix, lengthy, and certainly editable, there are a further 75 pages of small print notes at the back.\u00a0 I think part of being a great novelist is choosing what to leave out.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t resist about 100 notes at the end of his essay.\u00a0 Is all this necessary one wonders?\u00a0\u00a0 Yet there is no denying the scope of his genius and the power of his writing, amongst the cornucopia of drug references, which indicate the speed in which and probably on which, he wrote.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fascinating.<\/p>\n

The Year of Lear.\u00a0 Shakespeare in 1606 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Shapiro<\/h2>\n

Excellent historical background to the lengthy and highly rewarding time Shakespeare was writing for James 1st<\/sup> and not Elizabeth 1st<\/sup>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Something we easily forget.\u00a0\u00a0 Amongst the fears and threats of home terrorism of Catesby and Guy Fawkes and others in Warwickshire, very close to Shakespeare\u2019s Stratford.\u00a0 I find his history better than his literary criticism.\u00a0 But certainly it is filling an essential gap in my knowledge of the greatest writer ever.\u00a0 I am not entirely sure what point he is making.<\/p>\n

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2015<\/p>\n

Ctrl-Alt- 1-2-3<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Slade House\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mitchell<\/h2>\n

Submission\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michel Houellebecq<\/h2>\n

The Flemish House\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

The Lady in the Lake\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Chandler<\/h2>\n

Heat Wave\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penelope Lively<\/h2>\n

Low Life\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Spectator Columns\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeremy Clarke<\/p>\n

Gideon\u2019s Spies\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gordon Thomas<\/h2>\n

The Lady from Zagreb\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

Dead is Better\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jo Perry<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

December<\/p>\n

Dust That Falls from Dreams\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Louis de Bernieres<\/h2>\n

Sometimes reading a book one can feel ambivalent, unsure whether you\u2019re totally enjoying it.\u00a0 I enjoy this writer and have enjoyed many of his books.\u00a0 He writes nicely and interestingly although anyone who starts a novel with a young man heading for the trenches, well no doubt how that\u2019s going to turn out.\u00a0\u00a0 With this book I was still ambivalent for almost two thirds, but I felt I needed a break as the year ended.\u00a0 Not sure why.<\/p>\n

Killing a King\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dan Ephron<\/h2>\n

The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin And the Remaking of Israel.\u00a0 Really the end of the Clinton peace process\u2026 and possibly the last chance for peace in the middle east as he manages to get the great hero Rabin to shake hands with the terrorist leader Yasser Arafat, thus unwittingly condemning Rabin to death by the Israeli far right settler movement.\u00a0 So sad for all concerned.\u00a0 Nicely told.<\/p>\n

The Girl on The Train\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paula Hawkins<\/h2>\n

A wonderful very well written murder mystery.\u00a0 A great read and a great thriller.\u00a0 Alternative viewpoints from the various characters keep the suspense till the end.\u00a0 Perfectly accomplished and a great achievement.\u00a0 I loved it.<\/p>\n

The Lemur\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Benjamin Black<\/h2>\n

An excellent book by John Banville under his pseudonym.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how I managed to miss this one.\u00a0 Short, taut and almost perfect.<\/p>\n

Purity\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jonathan Franzen<\/h2>\n

I was enjoying it, which surprised me, but he writes nicely and then it just seems to go on and on, and I realised that I believed neither in Pip, the female lead, or the asshole Andreas Wolf, the murderous East German spiritual leader of young women in Bolivia.\u00a0 Really?\u00a0\u00a0 I tried and tried and then went, oh fuck it.<\/p>\n

To Rise Again at a Decent Hour.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joshua Ferris<\/h2>\n

A very funny book that would have made my Xmas selections if I had read it sooner.\u00a0 Very amusingly called \u201cthe Catch 22 of dentistry\u201d by Stephen King no less, his style and his subject reminds me of Joseph Heller, and indeed Philip Roth, which is high praise indeed.\u00a0 Very enjoyable and original.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

November<\/p>\n

Sweet Caress\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd<\/h2>\n

Sometimes you can be reading a novel which starts well and just feel the air go out of it.\u00a0 I like William Boyd\u2019s writing very much and have enjoyed almost all his books, though not his last one, the Bond job, and this at first excited me and raised my expectations because he strayed into W. G. Sebald territory by including pictures, but somehow it collapsed.\u00a0\u00a0 I ceased to believe in it.\u00a0 Mainly I think because I didn\u2019t feel he wrote a convincing woman.\u00a0\u00a0 I felt he has used this shape before in a novel I really liked,\u00a0 (Any Human Heart<\/em>) but that here he was dealing unconvincingly in slightly clich\u00e9d areas.\u00a0 I am sorry for this and to have to say this as I think he is a very fine novelist.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Made me want to read Sebald himself and I had a recent collection of essays which I tried, though I only really read the one on Rousseau.\u00a0 It\u2019s the prose that keeps you reading.\u00a0 Deceptively simple yet sonorous.<\/p>\n

A Place in the Country.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 W. G. Sebald<\/h2>\n

Essays.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And this led me to read..<\/p>\n

Vertigo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 W. G. Sebald<\/h2>\n

A puzzling book, about memory and a good beginning about Stendhal with Napoleon, Kafka in Italy, Casanova in Venice and he himself going back to South Germany.\u00a0\u00a0 I wrote in 2006 when I first read it \u201cSometimes great, sometimes banal.\u00a0 He seems unable to distinguish between the particular and the prosaic.\u00a0 Highs and dulls.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>This was a first edition I picked up in Hatchards.<\/p>\n

O Pioneers!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Willa Cather<\/h2>\n

I very much enjoyed this beautiful short novel of the Swedish settlers in Hanover, Nebraska.\u00a0 Love and loss and lyrical writing.\u00a0 Great.\u00a0 Written in 1913.<\/p>\n

Slade House\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mitchell<\/h2>\n

A brilliant ghost story, a form I never would have imagined enjoying so much, but he has made it so modern and above all so believable<\/em> that you are seduced into it and cannot put it down.\u00a0 I read it from cover to cover between JFK and LAX and was utterly pleased and thrilled.\u00a0\u00a0 I have very much enjoyed his previous books and he is an astonishingly good writer.\u00a0\u00a0 This I think will be a best seller for him.\u00a0 It\u2019s chillingly good.<\/p>\n

Submission\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michel Houellebecq<\/h2>\n

A very funny novel.\u00a0 Satirical and withering.\u00a0 And deadly topical.\u00a0\u00a0 I read it just before the Paris attacks.\u00a0 He demolishes modern France a step at a time, through the eyes of his louche academic who studies Huysmans and teaches at the Sorbonne.\u00a0\u00a0 Step by step he goes from the contemporary to the inevitable.\u00a0 It is both a warning and a great gag about the triumph of Muslim fundamentalism.\u00a0\u00a0 I liked it a lot.<\/p>\n

Lanzarote\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michel Houellebecq<\/h2>\n

Short, funny, sexy and hilarious, he can make drama out of four characters and an empty island.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

October.\u00a0 On the Road.<\/p>\n

Forty Thieves\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

Oh joy, oh rapture, to be off on the road with a new Thomas Perry, which won\u2019t be published until January.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A perfect start to travel reading.<\/p>\n

Civil War\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter Ackroyd<\/h2>\n

Volume 111 of the History of England.\u00a0\u00a0 Very well told history of the English Civil War from the arrival of the Scottish King James V1 to become James 1st<\/sup>, through his wilful son Charles 1st<\/sup> who was executed,\u00a0 and his two sons Charles II and James II who was forced to flee the throne on 1688 in the Bloodless Revolution, allowing his daughter Mary to take the throne.\u00a0 A fascinating struggle for Parliamentary rights against the capricious arrogance of a monarchy.\u00a0 Parliament\u2019s victory was a very important moment in the history of the rights of the individual.<\/p>\n

The Last Six Million Seconds \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Burdett<\/h2>\n

A cracking good yarn as they say.\u00a0\u00a0 I think this is his second novel and he is working his way towards his Thai detective series.\u00a0 This is set in Hong Kong on the eve of liberty from the British and has a Hong Kong Policeman who is only half Chinese.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Really excellent read on my I pad.<\/p>\n

The Maltese Falcon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dashiell Hammet<\/h2>\n

I think Hammet is not as good as Chandler but still I like this, his best book.\u00a0 Spade is a weird man.\u00a0 \u201cWhen your partner gets killed you\u2019re supposed to do something about it\u201d but what he does do is avoid the widow, with whom he is clearly having an affair, and sexually pursue the client, and then turn her in.\u00a0\u00a0 He is described as a blond Satan and with his yellow hair, his slightly cruel, in fact beastly behaviour to his secretary, he is both more real and less attractive than Humphrey Bogart.<\/p>\n

The yarn is still superbly set up for the John Huston movie, with all the characters leaping off the pages on to the screen.<\/p>\n

Watch me\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anjelica Houston<\/h2>\n

The second volume of director John\u2019s daughter picks up her tale in the seventies in London, with some familiar faces to me.\u00a0\u00a0 Jack Nicholson filming The Shining, Shelley Du Val and Nona and Martin Somers.\u00a0\u00a0 Familiar times.\u00a0 I was kinda hoping she would describe her visit to filming The Life of Brian<\/em> in Tunisia, but she didn\u2019t so I guess I\u2019ll have to.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There is the arrest of Polanski which she was very close to.\u00a0\u00a0 A wonderful woman, and a great life.<\/p>\n

Pulse\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Barnes<\/h2>\n

Fine short stories, some linked which I picked up on the road and enjoyed even though I had the feeling I had read them before,\u00a0 which I had in July 2011, and here\u2019s what I wrote then:<\/p>\n

The new collection of vaguely linked short stories is a return to form for him, and an example of what he does best, conveying character through dialogue.\u00a0\u00a0 These short stories are almost play-like in their lack of descriptive prose, but his characters talk, bicker and despair and come to life immediately.\u00a0\u00a0 Happy to see he\u2019s back. <\/em><\/p>\n

The History of The Conquest of Mexico.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William H. Prescott<\/h2>\n

Continued to read on I Pad.<\/p>\n

Liberty Bar\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

The first set in the South of France where Maigret commutes by bus between Cannes and Nice while sorting out what\u2019s up.<\/p>\n

The Flemish House\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon
\nThe thing I notice is his weather is superb, his atmosphere, the rain, the cold, the boots, the bars, the differences between the French and the Flemish. The border places, the boat places, the canals, the locks, and in this case the Meuse which is in full flood and preventing the barge traffic.\u00a0\u00a0 Maigret is often soaked and cold, and always reaching for a warming drink or missing his wife\u2019s cooking.\u00a0\u00a0 The images are in the details.\u00a0\u00a0 I loved this one.<\/h2>\n

A Passage to India\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E. M. Forster<\/h2>\n

Brilliantly alive with the misunderstandings of the British, Fielding, Miss Quested, drawn together by the strange and unlikely affection of Mrs Moore for Dr. Aziz,\u00a0 a Muslim who lives through misunderstanding, false arrest, false accusation and unexpected release and triumph, to explore his hatred and misunderstanding and finally his love for India and the inevitability of its release from the British Raj.\u00a0 Written in 1924, it still had only 24 years left, and correctly predicts another European war will do for it.<\/p>\n

First US edition, third printing August 1924.\u00a0 Rather oddly Pages 161 \u2013 176 are bound in upside down\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

September<\/p>\n

The Dying Animal\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

Dr. David Kepesh.\u00a0 A monologue on love and sex, and child abandonment, teaching and above all his longing for the breasts of Consuela the Cuban, whom he loves, whom he abandons and with whom he reconnects and photographs just before she has a mastectomy.\u00a0\u00a0 In all a strange book.\u00a0\u00a0 And for a short book, rather long.\u00a0\u00a0 I haven\u2019t read The Breast, perhaps it is a start of that.<\/p>\n

A Personal History of Thirst\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Burdett<\/h2>\n

I enjoy his novels very much so I sent for this, his first.\u00a0 It starts off like a rocket, and he writes really well but I thought it lost its way after a while, and I\u2019m glad he found a more interesting world to write about.<\/p>\n

The Thin Man.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dashiell Hammet<\/h2>\n

Talking of a history of thirst Nick and Nora Charles never stop.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m afraid I had to.\u00a0 I found the banter and the plot a lot more banal this time around.\u00a0 Too many cocktails.\u00a0\u00a0 This level of public drunkeness.\u00a0 It’s almost entirely about the next cocktail.\u00a0\u00a0 Though interestingly written during Prohibition, so perhaps a love song to liquor is aloud. The Nora character seems to have been based on his lover Lillian Hellmann.<\/p>\n

The Blue Guitar\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Banville<\/h2>\n

I was enjoying this and admiring how well he writes, until I suddenly lost all interest and saw why he got the sort of panning I had read which had up until then puzzled me.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ll give it another go, because he is the real thing.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Heat Wave\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penelope Lively<\/h2>\n

A wonderful novel, set in a long hot English summer (yes they do happen) where Pauline watches her daughter undergoing the same betrayal by her husband that she had experienced.\u00a0\u00a0 The structure is simple and elegant, but the emotions are wonderfully handled, as she watches the adultery in helpless dismay.\u00a0 I like Penelope Lively a lot and here she produces a sudden and unexpected and highly satisfactory end to a very fine book.<\/p>\n

The Counterlife\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

Brother of the famous novelist, discovering his triple by-pass has left him impotent at 39 either dies under the knife, or survives and flees to Israel to join a commune, run by a radical right wing Kibbutzim. \u00a0Meanwhile the writer of the book either dies from the same surgery or marries an Englishwoman and tries to live in Chiswick.\u00a0\u00a0 The book keeps shifting, shape and narrative, and while it is fiendishly clever, it also becomes slightly annoying.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Every person in it has a good reason to destroy some of Zuckermans writing, and they are all angry with him in some form for writing about them, although he denies it is them, and in some parts invents whole scale unlikely action scenes, where a passenger tries to hijack an El Al plane from Israel.\u00a0\u00a0 So it is a discussion of the novelist and his role in life.\u00a0 A large part of it is a long and highly argumentative discussion about what it means to be a Jew in Israel, as opposed to an American Jew.\u00a0\u00a0 For the non-Jew this is simply hard to understand, so I turned again to remind me, to a book about major anti-semitism \u2026.<\/p>\n

The Grand Inquisitors Manual\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jonathan Kirsch<\/h2>\n

A History of Terror in the name of God<\/strong><\/p>\n

And an all too stark reminder of just how foul and consistently horrendously the Jewish people have been treated through the centuries.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s nauseating, and unrelenting and shameful.<\/p>\n

The Cellars of the Majestic\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Is there anything more satisfying than a murder mystery at a hotel?\u00a0\u00a0 Yes a murder mystery with Maigret in the basement serving quarters of a smart Parisian hotel.\u00a0 The Penguin Classics continue.<\/p>\n

A Spy Among Friends\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ben Macintyre<\/h2>\n

The story of Philby, here told through the eyes of the great betrayal of friendship, \u00a0first with Nicholas Eliot and also James Angleton.\u00a0 Elliot is so in denial he even fights hard to get Philby, deeply suspected by MI5, reinstated by MI6.\u00a0 What is fun is to see the torture that Philby went through, thanks to his betrayal of friends, wives and country, becoming virtually an alcoholic zombie by the end.\u00a0\u00a0 And this book suggests quite plausibly that Philby did not run, but was carefully pushed into fleeing to Moscow, since it spared the Secret Service the embarrassment of a public trial, and a potential hanging, and the Security world could not afford another scandal after Blake, Buster Crabbe etc.\u00a0 Nicely told, intriguing world of the Cambridge Spies and the upper class twits who seemed to think a decent school was all that was required.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

August<\/p>\n

Fierce Attachments\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Vivian Gornick<\/p>\n

A reprint by Daunt Books of a fine novel published in 1987.\u00a0\u00a0 Reminded me of Jeanette Winterson in the intense and crippling relationship with the mother, here told in a series of flashbacks from the current state of bickering, mutual but clinging dislike in which they walk the streets of Manhattan to the eight year old girl, growing up under the mesmeric spell of a willful, possibly borderline, Jewish mamma, in a crowded tenement in the Bronx, filled with extraordinary neighbors, people and lives.\u00a0 Walking on egg shells and learning by hard knocks, never to quite trust herself, she reveals the \u00a0neighborly world of the tenements. \u00a0Nettie, the beautiful slut, etc.\u00a0 I think it not as good as the Winterson because the story is unresolved, the unhealthy relationship with the mother remains unbroken.<\/p>\n

The Judge\u2019s House\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Another great one from the series of Maigret reprints.\u00a0 His usage of the grey, marshy coastline of the mussel fields is brilliant.\u00a0 Maigret has been exiled to Lucon and is grateful when a busybody neighbor seeks him out to bring him into an obscure little town with a murder and a mystery.<\/p>\n

The Grave of Alice B. Toklas\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Otto Friedrich.<\/p>\n

I love the writing of Otto Friedrich.\u00a0 I particularly love The End of the World: A History\u00b8 which is the most fascinating book on the recurring mad moments of history; City of Nets, about Hollywood in the 1940\u2019s and particularly good on the \u00e9migr\u00e9s; Before The Deluge, about Berlin before the world ended.. etc.\u00a0 This collection, first published in 1989, is a series of interesting essays, all of which inform, entertain and instruct.\u00a0 He writes easily and modestly about the many worlds he has crossed, Paris in the fifties, where he writes fascinatingly that it was Alice B. Toklas who defined the tastes of Gertrude Stein and not the other way round as we had always supposed.\u00a0 The book ends with a loving reminiscence of\u00a0 James Baldwin in Paris while he was a still struggling writer, struggling to eat, struggling to stay well.\u00a0 What comes through about Baldwin is his amazing confidence in his own creative talent, and his knowledge that he is head and shoulders above the other scribblers and scriveners around him.\u00a0 There are pieces on Wagner\u2019s Parsifal, and the last year of Mozart\u2019s life, the last Empress of Rome, and Fact Checking on News Magazines, for which he worked when he returned from Paris and Berlin.<\/p>\n

Sweet Thursday\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Steinbeck<\/p>\n

A 1954 First edition in good order.\u00a0 Probably from Iliad.\u00a0\u00a0 This is a sequel to Cannery Row which took off like a rocket and then became strangely sentimental.\u00a0 As if he was writing for a market.\u00a0 Always a fatal thing to do.\u00a0\u00a0 The audience must always be you.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to fool the others. (Rutland Writers Hints, Part 146.)<\/p>\n

The Stories of Muriel Spark\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/p>\n

A nice first edition I picked up at Hatchards.\u00a0 I enjoyed the South African stories particularly.\u00a0 It seems to me she was a very modern writer, always challenging form and shape and conventions and it gives her a most refreshing style which says \u201cyes, life is like this. People talk and behave like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bangkok Asset\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Burdett<\/p>\n

I really do enjoy these Thai detective books.\u00a0\u00a0 John Burdett writes a great yarn.\u00a0\u00a0 His Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep of the Thai Police is a wonderful creation.\u00a0 They are a great series of books.\u00a0 This one is about transhumans.\u00a0\u00a0 Apparently based on some real CIA program. \u00a0Checking back I seem to have read all of the series so far with great enjoyment.\u00a0 Always a nice moment when a book you want to read comes out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Summer Reading June July<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

H is for Hawk\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Helen Macdonald<\/p>\n

The most delightful and original book I have read in years.\u00a0\u00a0 A beautiful book, a very fine book and a new classic.\u00a0 In a perfect edition from Grove Press.\u00a0 It\u2019s the sort of book you want to sit down and instantly re-read.\u00a0\u00a0 Natural history, which is about both nature and history.\u00a0 A valedictory for her father.\u00a0 To cope with her grief she adopts a goshawk and patiently and with great courage learns to teach it the ancient arts of hawking.\u00a0 She herself is an odd bird, but she writes heavenly prose.\u00a0 I loved this book.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Two Penny Bar\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/p>\n

Continuing the fabulous new Penguin edition binge into the work of this modern master.\u00a0 It seems like effortless writing.\u00a0 They are just so great I can\u2019t wait for more.<\/p>\n

Trouble is My Business\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Chandler.<\/p>\n

Very short.\u00a0 Obviously written for the Pulp Mags, which he writes about.\u00a0 It\u2019s not his best.\u00a0 But it\u2019s still Chandler.\u00a0\u00a0 From his intro:\u00a0 \u201cWhen in doubt have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cEverything a writer learns about the art or craft of fiction takes just a little away from his need or desire to write at all.\u00a0 In the end he knows all the tricks, and has nothing to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plus three short stories:\u00a0\u00a0 Finger Man, Goldfish and Bad Wind. \u00a0\u00a0About Philip Marlowe.<\/p>\n

I just realized that Chandler was at school in Dulwich not far from where Christopher Marlowe was murdered.\u00a0 (There\u2019s a thesis for you.)<\/p>\n

Casino\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nick Pileggi<\/p>\n

The Rise and Fall of the Mob in Las Vegas.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 Wonderfully readable.\u00a0 Led to a Scorcese film.\u00a0 Given to me by Jeremy Clarke, who couldn\u2019t believe I have met Nick and enjoyed his company.<\/p>\n

Low Life\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Spectator Columns\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeremy Clarke<\/p>\n

The delightful Jeremy came to dinner, leaving me a signed copy of his latest collection, and I sat happily in front of the Test Match reading it and giggling.<\/p>\n

The Crying of Lot 49\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Pynchon<\/p>\n

I get the feeling I tried this before.\u00a0\u00a0 It starts off so well and bogs down.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t abandoned it, just been flirting with other books.\u00a0 Actually now I have abandoned it.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like it.<\/p>\n

The Misty Harbour\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/p>\n

One of my favourites.\u00a0 I think he writes best of the foggy coastlines of Northern France and the small villages, where people have private agendas and nobody talks.<\/p>\n

Family Album\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penelope Lively<\/p>\n

A portrait of a family.\u00a0\u00a0 Well a portrait of a house really.\u00a0 An interesting book, a large and complex family are portrayed through reminiscences and multiple viewpoints in time and character.\u00a0 It makes the story slow, but because she writes so well it works.\u00a0 We get their viewpoints on everyone else.<\/p>\n

The Shadow Puppet\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/p>\n

Low life mystery in the Place des Vosges.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oranges are not\u00a0 the only fruit\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeanette Winterson<\/p>\n

A lovely novel I had somehow managed to miss.\u00a0\u00a0 She is a brilliant writer.\u00a0 I loved her book about<\/strong> her nightmare mother last year Why Be Happy When You Can be Normal, <\/em>which made me howl out loud with laughter, to the surprise of my wife.\u00a0\u00a0 How can you find such a monster mother funny, she asked?\u00a0 This was her debut novel and won a lot of prizes for very good reasons.<\/p>\n

Moon Tiger.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penelope Lively.
\nA most wonderful, eloquent, elegant, beautiful, exquisitely written book, which I see quite rightly won the Booker Prize in 1987.
\nA delightful discovery, a happen chance in Harrods, hiding in the shelves of their classics.
\nIt is immediately gripping.\u00a0 Her prose so finely constructed, so that you do not notice the effort that is here.\u00a0\u00a0 And the tale unrolls with breath-taking control.\u00a0\u00a0 How could I not know about this?
\nSometimes it feels like a blessing and a benediction to discover such beauty, and yet there must be hundreds of such undiscovered delights, hiding on shelves all round the world.\u00a0 Literature at its finest, about who we are and how we are and how we got to be here.\u00a0 I was gratefully and intensely joyful for the few unputdownable hours I spent in the company of her gracious wonderful mind.
\nPast Times remembered.\u00a0\u00a0 The base of both literature and history.
\n<\/strong>
\nHotel Savoy.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Roth
\nA rather beautiful short novel translated from the German.\u00a0\u00a0 Roth is new to me but I loved this story of a soldiers homecoming from captivity to stay in the old Savoy Hotel, along with a crowd of unusual characters.\u00a0 The uncertainty, and threatened violence of a post war city is reflected in his beautiful prose.\u00a0 A nice discovery.<\/p>\n

Cecile is dead.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 George Simenon
\nThey keep coming, and they keep pleasing.\u00a0 These delightful inspector Maigret books issued by Penguin Classics in new translations are essential for your travels.\u00a0\u00a0 This one about a woman who keeps coming to see Maigret and he is bored by her constant visits, with bad results…<\/p>\n

Suspended Sentences.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patrick Modiano
\nOne of those French novels where very little happens at great length, but we are spared no detail.\u00a0 \u00a0 Actually three short novellas.\u00a0\u00a0 I managed about one and a half!
\nPicked up at Daunts on a whim.<\/p>\n

Maigret\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 George Simenon.
\nThough now retired Maigret is drawn back into the familiar world of the Police Judicaire by the folly of his nephew who is accused of a murder.\u00a0 Hovering like a famous ghost at the edge of the investigation, treated with respect and occasionally not, he builds his patient case.<\/p>\n

Missoula.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jon Krakauer
\nThis is not a book you enjoy.\u00a0 And indeed the emotions and passions and violent language of the public towards principals in this tale of two rapes make you despair of the brave new internet world, where ignorance and savagery and hurtful language is the new fee speech.
\nAs a Brit all I can say is that this outbreak of extraordinary entitled and violent behaviour towards women has several elements that are peculiarly American.\u00a0 First are the drinking laws which ensure that illegal drinking is the norm, and binge drinking, and private drinking games consume a large amount of College social life.\u00a0 Second is the extraordinary savagery of a game which makes heroes of violent young men. Third is that fame itself and the special privileges that come with it in a closed society, due to the extremely profitable exploitation of their sport, permit young men, of less than high intelligence, and far less than impeccable or sensitive behaviour, to act as if they are above the law.\u00a0 \u00a0 This is now such a common perception that it is epidemic.
\nThe liberation of young women into a supposedly equal college society where gangs of boys conspire to seduce them actually leaves them vulnerable.\u00a0 \u00a0 If there is any encouraging news it is that colleges now seem to be taking this rape epidemic seriously, and Obama called it out.\u00a0 It makes you feel ashamed to be a man.<\/p>\n

Seize the Day.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saul Bellow
\nA nicely written sad tale of the worst day of a no longer young and foolish man, who keeps failing and faces an unsympathetic father and separated wife.\u00a0\u00a0 Good yarn.<\/p>\n

Gone Girl.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gillian Lynn
\nInteresting to read the novel after seeing the movie, because of course you know the big secret, which it takes more than half the book to get to.\u00a0 The big secret of Amy.\u00a0 So reading it is interesting because you know she is lying in her version of events, which you would not normally know when reading the book for the first time.\u00a0 As in the movie we feel ambivalent towards them. We don’t know what will happen.\u00a0 The brilliance of the book is in this… it is so skilfully plotted.\u00a0 \u00a0 It’s filled with a million insights of how it is to be caught up in celebrity culture.\u00a0 Everyone now behaves like the TV and needs to grab the story and twist it for their advantage…
\n
\nMay<\/strong><\/p>\n

I Blame Dennis Hopper\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ileana Douglas<\/h2>\n

More movie Memoirs this time from the siren Ileana.<\/p>\n

The Hot House by the East River\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

Found this first edition from 1973 set in sweltering New York, the principal characters, though hilarious, are not quite what they seem to be.\u00a0 She is so playfully, both in her writing and her use of form.<\/p>\n

Wilde in America\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David M. Friedman<\/h2>\n

He argues that Wilde invented the cult of celebrity, by agreeing to allow D\u2019Oyly Carte to tour him round America, so that everyone could see what Patience<\/em> was mocking.\u00a0 Persuasive argument, since Wilde had only a small volume of self-published poems to his name, but instantly became widely well known, lecturing to the denizens of the States, to greater and lesser acclaim.<\/p>\n

Deception\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

That rare bird, a Roth I hadn\u2019t read.\u00a0\u00a0 And even rarer, didn\u2019t love.\u00a0\u00a0 All in dialogue.\u00a0 Scenes from an affair.<\/p>\n

The Hollow Crown\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dan Jones<\/h2>\n

The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of The Tudors<\/strong><\/p>\n

I picked up and read the second half of this \u2013 well from about Edward IV to the end.\u00a0\u00a0 The more familiar arrival of the Tudors.\u00a0 Hundreds of years of civil war here, sometimes there seem to be about three rebellions a year.\u00a0 The entire island seems to be filled with plate armour and arrows and terrible bloody, muddy, hacking to bits.\u00a0\u00a0 They\u2019re all about 23 too.\u00a0\u00a0 So it\u2019s late teenage violence on a huge scale.\u00a0 More like gang warfare.\u00a0\u00a0 Richard 3rd<\/sup> was definitely a serial killer.\u00a0\u00a0 May have killed two Kings too.\u00a0\u00a0 Henry VI it is widely assumed.\u00a0\u00a0 Quite possibly his brother as well.<\/p>\n

Life Ascending\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nick Lane<\/h2>\n

The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m still reading this.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a book you can rush, since it encompasses The Origin of Life, DNA, Photosynthesis, The Complex Cell, Sex, Movement, Sight, Hot Blood, Consciousness and Death.<\/p>\n

I expect to be reading it still next year.\u00a0 The Unbeliever\u2019s Bible.\u00a0 How things really came to be.\u00a0 I read it on my phone and I pad.\u00a0 Often, occasionally, and always with great interest.<\/p>\n

Gideon\u2019s Spies\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gordon Thomas<\/h2>\n

The Secret History of the Mossad.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The totally fascinating, utterly gripping, long but never dull, history of the Mossad. With all the greatest hits, and a few of their misses.\u00a0 An intriguing tale of ten heads of this most secret service, and the way they coped with the many, many crises which continue, and the threats, which seem to worsen, and the potential for Middle East disaster with nuclear proliferation.\u00a0 Then there\u2019s the incredible tale of Robert Maxwell\u2026.\u00a0\u00a0 This book is essential reading, and it\u2019s updated now and in a nice big fat paperback form.\u00a0 I could not put it down.<\/p>\n

The Passion\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeanette Winterson<\/h2>\n

Boy she can write.\u00a0 Beautiful sentences.\u00a0 A delightful, short novelette about young people picked up in the wake of Napoleon, (near Boulogne when we meet them), following him to Moscow, where his appeal is exposed as the sham it always was.\u00a0 In several voices, two mainly, a young lad called Henri and a Venetian \u201ccomfort lady,\u201d\u00a0 whom he loves madly, though her feelings are more sisterly. They escape to Venice, but she loves a Lady and, well, Henri ends up fairly happily.\u00a0 It\u2019s the kind of book that I could easily read again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

April<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Lady from Zagreb\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

A Bernie Gunther Novel<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course I couldn\u2019t wait and I bought the book and downloaded it so I could finish it on the plane, which I did.\u00a0 About Dalia, a smouldering siren of the German cinema, her Yugoslavian background, including a monster father, her married time in Switzerland, all of which Bernie unravels.\u00a0\u00a0 He sees her in the old cinema at La Ciotat, and then recalls 1942 when he was employed by Goebbels to get her into a picture, and his bed.\u00a0 Bernie smokes and screws his way through constantly challenging dangers, which makes him our favourite detective\u2026.<\/p>\n

The Big Seven\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jim Harrison<\/h2>\n

I like Jim Harrison but this book seems to just go on and on.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s almost totally stream of consciousness and with him that means fishing, and sex, and alcohol.\u00a0 Pretty much with anyone.\u00a0 There is an interesting plot buried in it, with the most obnoxious family in the world, a family of brutes and killers, who are being slowly poisoned by one of their own, but even this gets away from him and it goes on and on with him boozing, and looking for women to fuck.<\/p>\n

The Last Word\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hanif Kureishi<\/h2>\n

An excellent novel.\u00a0\u00a0 An old trope, the young lion writing the biography of the grumpy old master, but handled very nicely here, and with a world of understanding of the female.\u00a0\u00a0 With a famous Indian novelist it of course could be interpreted as Salman, but actually he manages to create in Mamoon a convincing and genuinely moving grumpy old bastard figure.\u00a0 I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, and delighted.\u00a0 I must read more of him.<\/p>\n

A Burnt-Out Case\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

Found a nice 1961 First Edition at Iliad.\u00a0 I remember not liking this novel when I first read it, too Catholic<\/em> I thought snobbishly, but I was wrong.\u00a0 It is a beautiful book which I very much enjoyed this time.\u00a0\u00a0 The burnt out case refers to both the lepers and the architect (aka the novelist) trying desperately to hide himself in Africa.\u00a0 He arrives in depression, believing in nothing, contemptuous of everything, fleeing a disastrous affair, which is so Greene.\u00a0 \u00a0Of course as he is famous the world won\u2019t let him be.\u00a0\u00a0 And because he tries to avoid it they pursue him more.\u00a0 It ends in the wonderful seedy world of misunderstood and misconstrued emotion, not entirely dissimilar to the world-weary end of Gatsby, where things inevitably go wrong.<\/p>\n

The American Lover\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rose Tremain<\/h2>\n

Short stories.\u00a0\u00a0 But not quite up to it.<\/p>\n

Dark Places\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gillian Flynn<\/h2>\n

Lovely when you find a new writer you love.\u00a0\u00a0 Bingeing on her of course.\u00a0\u00a0 She does indeed inhabit some dark places.\u00a0\u00a0 But she always throws light into these murky corners. And as with most of detective fiction and the thriller:\u00a0 She is on the side of the innocent.<\/p>\n

Disgrace\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J. M. Coetzee<\/h2>\n

I picked this up and began to read, and then I couldn\u2019t put it down.\u00a0 I read it with delight, because I was feeling lately his writing for me was going off the boil. \u00a0The subject: a Professor who cannot resist his students is now almost a modern clich\u00e9, but I suppose from the amount of writers who have dealt with it, it\u2019s a recurring temptation.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what I wrote in 1999. Brilliant writing and deservedly the Booker winner \u2013 which I read before the announcement and thought it my book of the year.\u00a0 The disgrace of the father and the rape of the daughter, woven together in a totally compelling way.<\/em><\/p>\n

March<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Hollow Crown\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dan Jones<\/h2>\n

Since I just finished The Plantagenets I went straight into his sequel about the War of The Roses, which as he explains, is far more than the simple York v Lancaster struggle it is often presented as.\u00a0 He is a good narrative historian.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting to see how important Kingship was in those days to keep an unruly country with powerful and ambitious Lords in check.\u00a0 When the unfortunate (bi-polar?) Henry V1 came to the throne everything fell apart.\u00a0 Nicer for the French of course.\u00a0 Had a signed copy I picked up in Hatchards. (UK)<\/p>\n

The Death of Caesar\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barry Strauss<\/h2>\n

Pretty good simple history of Caesar and the principal assassins.<\/p>\n

Sharp Objects\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gillian Flynn<\/h2>\n

Welcome back Cutter.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sorry.\u00a0 Silly mood.\u00a0 I really enjoyed this dark, disquieting first person narrated thriller about a Chicago female reporter sent home to the South, and her awful mother, to investigate a couple of teen murders.\u00a0 Very well written.\u00a0 I am going to read more of her, she really delivers.<\/p>\n

Fatherland\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Harris<\/h2>\n

I enjoy his books and I had somehow missed this one, which is about a Berlin detective, but with the twist that Hitler is still alive and the Nazis won the war.\u00a0 An excellent read.<\/p>\n

The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

The latest in the Penguin paperback new translation and series of re-releases of these excellent short detective stories featuring the indefatigable Maigret.\u00a0 Perfect for a plane ride.<\/p>\n

Kafka on the Shore\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Haruki Murakami<\/h2>\n

I really like some of his books, but others I find too long, and in this one once we got to talking dogs I\u2019m afraid I lost interest.\u00a0 Far and away the most enjoyable I have read so far is the trilogy IQ84.<\/p>\n

February<\/strong><\/p>\n

Farewell My Lovely\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Chandler.<\/h2>\n

Love him.\u00a0 Love it.\u00a0 He is one of the best American writers, not just of detective fiction, but of prose. I have read them all before but enjoying them even more a second time.<\/p>\n

Re-read with great enjoyment.\u00a0 Chandler is one of my favourite writers.<\/p>\n

The Lady in the Lake\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Chandler<\/h2>\n

A brilliant book.\u00a0 Quite stunning in fact.<\/p>\n

A Theft\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hanif Kureishi<\/h2>\n

My Con Man.\u00a0 <\/strong>A very short but true story about the writer plagued by a charming con man.<\/p>\n

The Longest Afternoon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brendan Simms<\/h2>\n

An account of the 400 men who pretty much decided the Battle of Waterloo, by defending the farmhouse of La Haye Sainte during the battle of Waterloo, fatally delaying Napoleon\u2019s advance and ensuring time for the Prussians to arrive, to save the day and all Europe from the relentless dictator.<\/p>\n

Silver Screen Fiend\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patton Oswalt<\/h2>\n

A very finely written memoir by this very funny man, of his total addiction to movies, and the growth of a brilliant comedian.\u00a0 I was fortunate to see him interviewed by his brother at The Writers Guild, and then again interviewed and doing Stand Up at Largo.<\/p>\n

A Man\u2019s Head\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Another in the brilliant new series of Penguin Maigret novels.\u00a0\u00a0 They are very short and simply written, but deceptively great.<\/p>\n

Nora Webster\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Colm Toibin<\/h2>\n

Finely written Irish novel.<\/p>\n

Angels Gate\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 P.G. Sturges<\/h2>\n

A Shortcut Man novel.\u00a0\u00a0 I really enjoyed this, as I did a previous one of his.\u00a0 It\u2019s a Crime Novel and an excellent one.<\/p>\n

The Plantagenets\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dan Jones<\/h2>\n

Since the New Year I have been working through Dan Jones\u2019 long story of The Kings Who Made England <\/em>\u00a0or who nearly unmade France as they might better be known.\u00a0 Violent,\u00a0 arrogant, aggressive, assertive, muddle headed and very often wrong, they seem to have only two flavours:\u00a0 mad and violent, or mad and sneaky. \u00a0Two deposed:\u00a0 Ed 2 and Dick 2, both as it turns out far shittier, tyrannical, and less sympathetic than Shakespeare and Marlowe present.\u00a0 Hard not to sympathise with the French, the Welsh and the Scots, and all who suffered under them, not the least being the poor English caught between taxation, endless wars and the plague.\u00a0 Nicely written narrative history.<\/p>\n

Jeremy Thorpe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Bloch<\/h2>\n

In hindsight it\u2019s hard to see what all the fuss was about Thorpe.\u00a0 Once removed from the scene he was never missed.\u00a0\u00a0 A man whose confident sense of his own superiority led him to get away with (attempted) murder.\u00a0 I skimmed.\u00a0 This was the man in the silly hat who hit the beaches to the Monty Python theme tune.\u00a0 Always a charming clown and of course stalked by the singularly unattractive looney Norman Scott with whom he had an affair in the days when that sort of thing, though widespread, was illegal.\u00a0 Between the Kings and the Upper Classes it\u2019s a relief the Sixties happened.<\/p>\n

Life Ascending\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nick Lane<\/h2>\n

A fascinating biologists account of the ten great inventions of Evolution.\u00a0 A little smarter than I am, but I learned a lot more about evolutionary biology and filled in a few glaring gaps in my biology knowledge.\u00a0 He explains things I know nothing about very well, even with my poor science background.\u00a0 O level Physics with Chemistry. (45%.\u00a0 A bare pass)<\/p>\n

Fifty Mice\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel Pyne<\/h2>\n

A nicely written thriller about a man confusingly picked up and put into the hands of the Feds for an unwanted change of identity.\u00a0 What does he know, what did he do, what did he remember?\u00a0 The State as tyrant.\u00a0 Good yarn nicely told.<\/p>\n

January\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

January Window\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

Hilarious.\u00a0 About The Premier League and with real people in it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Made me shout with laughter.<\/p>\n

Someone said the critics didn\u2019t like this.\u00a0 I told them I don\u2019t read critics I read books.\u00a0\u00a0 To be this funny may seem easy but it is desperately difficult.\u00a0 I was at first surprised and then delighted.\u00a0 Not sure if you have to be a Football (Soccer) fan to enjoy it or not, but as a fan of both it and him I was really happy.<\/p>\n

The Emerald Light in The Air\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Donald Antrim<\/h2>\n

A book of short stories with an air of underlying anxiety about them.\u00a0 Manhattan malaise.\u00a0 Either everyone is unhappy with someone they are with or anxious about their previous lover, and they have frequently just undergone some kind of nervous collapse.\u00a0 I liked them though.<\/p>\n

The Innocent\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian McEwan<\/h2>\n

I found a signed first edition of one of his I haven\u2019t read.\u00a0 It\u2019s an odd bird.\u00a0\u00a0 A romantic spy story set in Berlin.\u00a0 It\u2019s like he\u2019s still learning his trade and trying on this genre.\u00a0 It\u2019s not really comfortable to him, so really to me the book is of interest in a novelist exploring himself.<\/p>\n

Dead is Better\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jo Perry<\/h2>\n

A wonderful, original, hilarious, and brilliant book.\u00a0 I really enjoyed it.\u00a0 I think you\u2019ll like it very much indeed\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 And she is married to the wonderful Thomas Perry, whose books I have been binging on.\u00a0 A must read.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Face Changers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I got lucky and found a Jane Whitefield Novel I hadn\u2019t read!\u00a0\u00a0 Actually I think it\u2019s my favourite.\u00a0\u00a0 Someone has set up pretending to be Jane and hiding people, or in fact milking them, having set them up.\u00a0 Really gripping.<\/p>\n

The Face Changers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

I found another at an airport.\u00a0 This one about people pretending to be Jane Whitefield without bothering to keep them alive.\u00a0 They too pursue Jane as she tries to hide an innocent plastic surgeon.\u00a0 Gripping as ever.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Jane Whitefield books are:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vanishing Act<\/p>\n

Dance for the Dead<\/p>\n

Shadow Woman<\/p>\n

The Face Changers<\/p>\n

Blood Money<\/p>\n

Runner<\/p>\n

Poison Flower<\/p>\n

A String of Beads<\/p>\n

Strip\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

I found a signed first edition at The Iliad Bookshop (www.iliadbooks<\/strong>.com<\/a>) <\/em>and though I have read it I began to read it again because it starts so grippingly and continues so.\u00a0 Love it.<\/p>\n

Sleeping Dogs\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

Another I hadn\u2019t read.\u00a0 Again from Iliad, which has a massive collection of great books.\u00a0 This one is about The Butchers Boy, hiding in the UK, he is recognized, with violent results.\u00a0 Most enjoyable.<\/p>\n

Shadow Woman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

Tom kindly sent me this as I could find no trace of it on my reading file.\u00a0 But just at the end I realized I had read it, and the thrilling chase and climax in the mountains was very familiar, but for some reason I had forgotten to note it down.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2014<\/p>\n

Ctrl-Alt- 1-2-3<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These are the books I chose to send to friends this year.<\/em><\/p>\n

Christmas Book List<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Zone of Interest\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/p>\n

The Children Act\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian McEwan<\/p>\n

Stalingrad\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Antony Beevor<\/p>\n

Rubicon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Holland<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Point That Thing At Me\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kyril Bonfiglioli<\/p>\n

Lost for Words\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edward St. Aubyn<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s that Lady?\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carey Harrison<\/p>\n

The One From The Other\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/p>\n

So, Anyway\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Cleese<\/p>\n

The Unquiet Mind\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dr. Kay Jamison<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

December<\/strong><\/p>\n

A String of Beads\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Santa was kind to me and brought me a new Jane Whitefield novel.\u00a0\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t put it down and devoured it hungrily like a Christmas dinner.\u00a0 Now I\u2019m saddened that it\u2019s over and I have to wait for a new one\u2026.<\/p>\n

Reality & Dreams\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In Hatchards I found a very nice first edition 1996 of one of hers I hadn\u2019t read.\u00a0\u00a0 Not for the first time she writes of the movie business, in this instance about a film director recovering from a fall from a crane.\u00a0 Lovely writing.<\/p>\n

Poodle Springs\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Chandler & Robert B. Parker<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not normally a fan of faux Chandler.\u00a0\u00a0 I think people over write.\u00a0 They mistake his style, which is essential simple with startling metaphors, for bad Hollywood dialogue but I found this 1998 oddity in Odyssey and was tempted to pick it up because the first four chapters are by Chandler himself.\u00a0\u00a0 To my surprise I stayed for the whole book.\u00a0\u00a0 Robert B. Parker writes very well, and continues an interesting start which begins with Marlowe married to Linda, plots it elegantly and writes with style and simplicity so that it is as readable and enjoyable as Chandler.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He is himself a detective story writer and his experience in the form shows.<\/p>\n

The Saint-Fiacre Affair\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

These are so good for travelling with.\u00a0 Devoured this one on BA.\u00a0\u00a0 One of the best mysteries so far.<\/p>\n

Night at The Crossroads\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Grand Banks Caf\u00e9 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Another elegantly plotted and deceptively simply written short novel who dun it in the new Penguin translation.\u00a0 Good to the last bite.<\/p>\n

November<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Takeover\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I picked up this nice 1976 first edition at Hatchards.\u00a0\u00a0 A lovely, witty, elegant, cleverly crafted tale of sin and sinners around the town of Nemi in Italy.\u00a0\u00a0 Always a joy to read.<\/p>\n

Hack Attack\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nick Davies<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The shocking story of how Rupert Murdoch, his editors and his five newspapers deliberately corrupted the police and public officials, perverted the course of justice and only after years of deliberate lying in courts were they forced to \u201cpay.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Not much at that.\u00a0 The foul News Of The World<\/em> was shut down, but the Sun <\/em>\u00a0popped up on Sunday.\u00a0\u00a0 They blackmailed, bullied and corrupted public life, debasing debate in their own financial interests, using their papers to expose innocent people who in any way crossed or questioned them.\u00a0\u00a0 The book makes you want to vomit.\u00a0\u00a0 It is not quite so well written as Dial M for Murdoch<\/em> which covered much of the same territory, as he is anxious to tell all of the tale.\u00a0 But still shocking.<\/p>\n

The Yellow Dog\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 George Simenon<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Fabulous the way these Penguin Classic reissues pop up to jog your elbow and clear your palette when engrossed in other books.\u00a0\u00a0 Classic who dun it as always with the unflappable Maigret and his disdain of all authority, so interesting in a policeman.\u00a0\u00a0 His quick sketches of characters are excellent.\u00a0 And what is happening between them.<\/p>\n

The Bone Clocks\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mitchell<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Well I really enjoyed most of it, which is fairly extraordinary since I don\u2019t like \u201cunreality\u201d books.\u00a0 But he writes so well I tolerated people changing into other people as long as I could.\u00a0 Then with a great sigh I let slip the mighty tome.\u00a0 He won\u2019t put me off though.\u00a0 I shall await more.<\/p>\n

A Journey to the Dark Heart of Nameless, Unspeakable Evil\u00a0\u00a0 Jane Bussman<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A very funny, and highly original autobiographical story of Jane Bussman, interviewer to the stars in Hollywood, leaving for Uganda in pursuit of a heart throb aid spokesman.\u00a0\u00a0 She manages to become involved with Joseph Koni and his abducted captives, and in her savage anger she brilliantly exposes the Aid money racket which keeps the whole business of abducting young girls going, everyone needs the money, since they steal it from the beginning, and so they are not motivated to do what the money is supposed to be encouraging them to do:\u00a0 stop him.\u00a0 Indeed one hand washes another, and they all profit from the trade.\u00a0 This has been going on for years and years and shows no end of ceasing.\u00a0 Her deceptively innocent pose reveals someone deeply disturbed by what she sees, and her apparent naivety takes her into scary territory where most journalists would not go.\u00a0 A hilarious, laugh out loud book, on the most improbable subject.<\/p>\n

October<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, Anyway\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Cleese<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I had to interview him about this book, so I was fascinated to see what he had done with this volume of autobiography, intriguingly, and surely unnecessarily, sub titled The Making of a Python<\/em>.\u00a0 The first surprise is that he only gets as far as Python, and then not very far into it, so that while we get Cambridge Circus, the Frost Report <\/em>and At Last the 1948 Show<\/em> there is very little of Fawlty<\/em> and only the odd reference to Wanda<\/em> so this is clearly only the beginning of what might become a trilogy if he can ever face it.\u00a0 The irritation that sneaks in about having to do it and publicise it, makes me doubt he\u2019ll want to try.\u00a0 Irritation is a key word for John.\u00a0 The result is that the book is very long on the young days, with a lot of the unpleasant mother, and Prep school and Clifton College, and short on the fascinating self-questioning person who became the funniest man in Britain.\u00a0 The surprise for me is that when he gets accepted into Cambridge University he goes back and teaches for two years at his old Prep School which he describes as halcyon days.\u00a0\u00a0 Here he was at his most happy, which I find extraordinary.\u00a0 There has always been a teacher inside John, and a yearning to teach, and at one point his parents set him up for a job at Marks and Spencer\u2019s, and he even hankers for a moment about becoming a banker.\u00a0 Shades of Mr. Puty.\u00a0 At Cambridge he drifts accidentally into the Footlights before revealing that amazing performing talent that was so evident in 1963, when I first met him.\u00a0 He talks generously of Bill Oddie and Tim Brooke-Taylor, but John stood out head and shoulders above that crowd, and not just physically.\u00a0 He was always the funniest man on the stage. The book is well written and there are tender and affectionate portraits of his father, a favourite teacher, called Mr Bartlett, Graham Chapman of whom he writes lovingly and with great tolerance;\u00a0\u00a0 greater tolerance than he expressed at the time; and he adores Connie Booth, revealing the kind heart that beats under the somewhat crusty exterior.\u00a0 He is a self-confessed wuss, and shy of women, until finally taken in hand by a forthright New Zealand lass on tour.<\/p>\n

The Rehearsal\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eleanor Catton <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Reading Eleanor Catton\u2019s precocious first novel revealing her extraordinary talent as a writer still did not quite prepare one for the amazing achievement of deservedly winning the Booker next time out with The Luminaries.\u00a0\u00a0 Set in a high school, where a teacher has been interfering with a pupil, it concerns the first year classman of an acting school, raising questions about reality, acting, and concealment of truth, through the central figure of a saxophone teacher and the pupil\u2019s sister.\u00a0 Complicated and not altogether satisfactory in conclusion, it raises more than it settles, but is a terrific read anyway.\u00a0 Her talent is immediately evident.<\/p>\n

The Tudors\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter Ackroyd<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Excellent voyage through somewhat familiar landscape.\u00a0 He is very good on Henry V111, less so on Elizabeth, but he views the Tudor world through the ever changing veil of religion, one man\u2019s saint is another man\u2019s cinder.\u00a0 Highly readable.\u00a0 Always interesting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

September thru mid-October.<\/h1>\n

On the road.\u00a0 London, Pompeii, Henley, San Francisco, Seattle.<\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

This was a great month for new novels.\u00a0\u00a0 I hit Hatchards in London delightedly finding a new Martin Amis, a new Ian McEwan, a new David Mitchell and the real Howard Jacobson signing his new book. He kindly invited me to his launch party where he introduced me to Philip Kerr, but I didn\u2019t catch this man\u2019s full name until later, grr.\u00a0\u00a0 However, I liked him without even knowing I loved him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Two of these new novels are about the Holocaust but they couldn\u2019t be more different.<\/p>\n

The Zone of Interest\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/h2>\n

I really enjoyed this book.\u00a0 He sidles you into the sudden startling realisation that the people talking, narrating, the talking heads who take us through the novel, are all in Auschwitz<\/em> and to them it is a life, a job, and a career.\u00a0\u00a0 Their various narratives show us the different ways humans deal with hell, \u00a0from denial to alcoholism.\u00a0 Almost all of them have an eventual realisation that something is terribly wrong here and they might have to pay for it.\u00a0\u00a0 This is an extraordinary work that imagines the day to day banality of the reality of casually disposing of the carcasses \u00a0of human beings and the problems which that presents, smell, mess, leakage\u2026. without ever recognising their humanity.\u00a0 A total denial of the real horror of what is going on.\u00a0\u00a0 Amis creates a love story between a junior officer and the wife of the Commandant, a very dangerous liaison, that never quite takes place, but which provides the central theme of the book.\u00a0\u00a0 He is the most honest of writers, and credits Primo Levi, and many others in his bibliography, but I find he has the most amazing ability to understand the truth about the human monster, and a pitiless glare exposing that moral monster.\u00a0 In this he is subtler than Dickens, who makes monsters comic for us to laugh at and dismiss when they get their come uppance, but you feel Martin Amis goes all the way to try and understand what makes a man into a monster, see for example his amazing book on Stalin, Korba the dread\u00a0\u00a0 His constant exposing of hypocrisy must be why he arouses such resentment in the British press, which is the home of hypocrisy.\u00a0\u00a0 But he is an unrelenting satirist and the finest novelist.<\/p>\n

J\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Howard Jacobson<\/h2>\n

A dystopian novel set in the future about the recent past.\u00a0 A big break for him, and this is not one of my favourite genres, because I find the world complicated enough to understand without having to invent another fictional world with its own set of rules.\u00a0 Given that apologia this kept me going because, simply, I love the way he writes.\u00a0 \u00a0In this one he eschews his masterful comic talents for something far more serious.\u00a0\u00a0 This is set in a post Holocaust world where everyone is encouraged by the state to be in denial about what might or might not have taken place.\u00a0 The J word of course is the subject. \u00a0Certain humans do speak up and out, while others observe and report, so there is both paranoia and suspicion. \u00a0In the midst of this he produces a love story between two misfits, struggling to survive in the violent, angry, and hostile world that has replaced the supposed event with silence.<\/p>\n

I had the great pleasure of meeting him briefly and I shipped a signed copy home but picked up a nice travel paperback version at the airport because I couldn\u2019t wait to read it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Also I just realised he looks like Shakespeare.\u00a0 If Shakespeare had been born in Manchester.\u00a0 Nominated for the Booker.<\/p>\n

The Merchant of Venice\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Shakespeare<\/h2>\n

And quite by chance I was reading this play which does to me now, seem anti-Semitic.\u00a0\u00a0 I guess the question is are the characters anti-Semitic, obviously yes, but is the play itself anti-Semitic.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ll get back to you.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m a bit tired of the silly casket business.\u00a0 Which reads even more like a tired idea for a game show.\u00a0\u00a0 Why would you leave your daughter so at the mercy of a guessing game.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Children Act\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian McEwan<\/h2>\n

A short but powerful book.\u00a0 I love the immediate reality of his characters and the way he writes about them.\u00a0 He brings a freshness to the kind of people he writes about, in this case a female married English judge whose husband announces he is leaving her.\u00a0 She must meet and decide on whether the court should forcibly give blood to a young 17 year old Jehovah\u2019s Witness who will otherwise die.\u00a0\u00a0 Complex moral problems and her own feelings intermingle as the young man begins to stalk her.\u00a0\u00a0 I really enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hilary Mantel<\/h2>\n

This is a far better title than book.\u00a0\u00a0 In fact it\u2019s just an eye catching title of a not particularly brilliant short story, which tries but fails to deliver on a promising concept.\u00a0 This is a publishers pot boiler.\u00a0 There are two schools of thought about Hilary Mantel and I\u2019m afraid I fall into the other camp of what is the fuss all about?\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>I couldn\u2019t finish the Cromwell book, and was reasonably disappointed by the stage adaptation I saw recently.\u00a0\u00a0 I felt that Peter Akroyd\u2019s book on The Tudors knocked her fictionalisation into the proverbial cocked hat.<\/p>\n

The Wonders of the Universe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brian Cox and Andrew Cohen<\/h2>\n

While travelling I have found this an intensely interesting book to read on my Samsung.\u00a0 The amazing and astounding information it contains is better suited to bite sized reads.\u00a0 You can only digest the immensity and staggering size and wonder of the Universe a bit at a time.\u00a0 I find myself highlighting section after section, and saying \u201cI didn\u2019t know that\u201d a lot out loud in airports.\u00a0 It\u2019s a book I will never stop reading.\u00a0\u00a0 What is also amazing, and hilarious, is that it is in parts already out of date!\u00a0\u00a0 So I can tease Brian in the same way he got me\u2026. Though it is astounding the pace of increase in our knowledge of the Universe, which can only be in response to the great threat to our own survival.\u00a0\u00a0 It is up to the intelligent to defeat the forces of ignorance which are everywhere\u2026.\u00a0 Survival of the what now?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

France<\/em><\/p>\n

The Unquiet Mind\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dr. Kay Jamison<\/h2>\n

Probably the finest book written by and about bi-polar disorder, from someone who both suffered from<\/p>\n

and studied it, often, ironically, at the same time.\u00a0 She was a psychology student, while undergoing the<\/p>\n

encroachment of the manic state.\u00a0 The fact that Jamison was a professor of psychiatry at the Johns<\/p>\n

Hopkins University School of Medicine and a co-author of the standard medical text on bipolar illness,<\/p>\n

knew the disease as both clinician and patient, her outing of her affliction involved considerable<\/p>\n

professional risk.\u00a0 \u00a0Her honesty and her writing skill reveal just how horrendous suffering from this<\/p>\n

disease is.\u00a0\u00a0 Written sympathetically, she tells her whole life story and struggles with this horror and<\/p>\n

reveals what it is like to suffer from manic depression.\u00a0 But her tale is optimistic on the grounds that she<\/p>\n

fought and survived, thanks to intelligence, love of a brother and medication.<\/p>\n

I also read:<\/p>\n

Night Falls Fast:\u00a0 Understanding Suicide\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dr. Kay Jamison<\/h2>\n

To try and understand how a friend could be in such a position.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There have been some bleak times this summer, but at least this book shows there is almost nothing we could have done.\u00a0 <\/em>Depression is a killer.<\/p>\n

Epitaph for a Spy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eric Ambler<\/h2>\n

A very satisfactory classic who dun it.\u00a0 Somewhere between Agatha Christie and Graham Greene.\u00a0 Lovely book of a man suddenly involved in a police case in the south of France.<\/p>\n

The Vesuvius Club\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mark Gattis<\/h2>\n

I very much enjoyed these wickedly sinister tales from the acid pen of the brilliant Mark Gattis, who brought us Sherlock (and plays his brother) and The League of Gentlemen.\u00a0\u00a0 What a clever chap he is.<\/p>\n

Stalingrad\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Antony Beevor<\/h2>\n

Not just one of the best history books, but one of the best books I have ever read.\u00a0 A brilliant narrative history of the hubris and arrogance of Hitler\u2019s Panzer drive into Russia, and the fearsome consequences and the terrible price paid by both the Russians and the Germans in one of the greatest military disasters of all time.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps worse than Napoleon\u2019s equally hubristic attack on Moscow.\u00a0\u00a0 It also shows the frightening indifference of Stalin to Soviet losses; a man equally as monstrous as Hitler.\u00a0 It changed the course of the war while I was still in the womb.\u00a0\u00a0 From this point on the war was lost as even the Wehrmacht knew.\u00a0\u00a0 Of course the insane megalomaniac continued to cause the deaths of millions of more humans.\u00a0 He would fight until the last German.\u00a0\u00a0 And he wanted that to be him.\u00a0 Beautifully written it reads like a novel, but is sadly all true.\u00a0 Lest we forget.<\/p>\n

Demobbed\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alan Allport<\/h2>\n

A friend gave me this interesting book about the problems of service men coming home after World War Two.\u00a0 He knows my sad tale.\u00a0\u00a0 I wish my father had been demobbed\u2026..\u00a0 Nicely told and with many insights into the problems of absent fathers and husbands, returning after four or five years to complete strangers of wives and children.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

August<\/h1>\n

Rubicon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Holland<\/h2>\n

A wonderful narrative history of the fall of the Roman Republic under the autocratic rule of Emperors and tyrants.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A compelling and brilliantly written book which never once mentions America but the thought of which is never a second away.\u00a0 \u00a0I really enjoyed it and couldn\u2019t put it down.\u00a0 Highly recommended.<\/p>\n

A Crime in Holland\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Maigret journeys to a small town in Holland, at the request of an arrested lecturer, to solve the mystery of a murder in a small town which cannot admit of scandal.\u00a0\u00a0 A classical and elegant tale, beautifully told.<\/p>\n

The Mah\u00e9 Circle\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Not a Maigret but one of his roman durs<\/em>, tough, bleak, very fine short novels.\u00a0\u00a0 Dr. Mah\u00e9 on holiday on the island of Porquerolles falls prey to the delusion he can escape from his banal existence as a married doctor.<\/p>\n

The Great Mordecai Moustache\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kyril Bonfiglioli<\/h2>\n

The Fourth Charlie Mortdecai Novel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Completed by Craig Brown.<\/p>\n

Charlie, proudly growing a moustache, is thrown out of the house for it by his wife.\u00a0\u00a0 He finds himself in Oxford trying to solve the death of a female don who drove into an omnibus.<\/p>\n

Mildred Pierce\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James M. Cain<\/h2>\n

I always get to the same point in this novel and I always stop, just as she prepares to open the Pie Shop.\u00a0\u00a0 I think it\u2019s because Mildred herself has no interior life.\u00a0 Steinbeck it ain\u2019t.\u00a0\u00a0 So while one is prepared to be moderately entertained for a while after the while I go I don\u2019t care anymore.<\/p>\n

Operation Shylock\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

Very entertaining but by the end there are so many twists and turns as to whether he is or he isn\u2019t Philip Roth or whether the story is true or it ain\u2019t that one gives a quiet sigh for being brought up a dull doubting Christian and didn\u2019t\u00a0 have to go through all the tortured self-questioning guilt of a Jewish upbringing.\u00a0\u00a0 Nevertheless there is no part of Judaism left unexplored in this quite remarkable novel.<\/p>\n

July<\/h1>\n

Holiday reading began in earnest with a re-read of an Elmore Leonard<\/p>\n

Split Images\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

The millionaire who likes killing for fun.\u00a0 A tragi-comic tale in the end.<\/p>\n

After reading Muriel Spark my eye was caught by the Penguin reprint of an old favourite of mine The Charlie Mordecai novels of Kyril Bonfiglioli.<\/p>\n

This is what I wrote when I first encountered what was then a trilogy by the already deceased author in 2000.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh yes the best and the finest, the funniest and the most fabulous discovery.\u00a0\u00a0 Ronald Firbank meets Raymond Chandler.\u00a0\u00a0 Divine writing, hilarious description, gripping action.\u00a0 Everything and more.\u00a0 If there are three better books this year I will eat my wife\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apart from the ungainly metaphor these books are even funnier on a second rereading:<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Point That Thing At Me\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kyril Bonfiglioli<\/h2>\n

The First Charlie Mortdecai Novel<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the simple polished elegant style of the writer that grabs you right away plus the naughty antics he gets up to with Jock, his bruiser side kick.\u00a0\u00a0 Charlie Mortdecai, degenerate aristocrat and amoral art dealer is at once a great comic creation and a hilarious character.\u00a0\u00a0 Just relax and bathe in the fun.<\/p>\n

After You With The Pistol\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kyril Bonfiglioli<\/h2>\n

The Second Charlie Mortdecai Novel<\/p>\n

The adventures continue in America.<\/p>\n

Something Nasty in the Woodshed\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kyril Bonfiglioli<\/h2>\n

The Third Charlie Mortdecai Novel.<\/p>\n

And in Jersey with a gruesome series of rapes.<\/p>\n

Pom Poms Up!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carol Cleveland<\/h2>\n

Yes that is the title, complete with the exclamation mark, an \u201cas told to\u201d book of the story of the girl from Monty Python.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 She gave me an autographed copy, and of course I had contributed an interview about her with the author.\u00a0\u00a0 Sweet Carol. \u00a0\u00a0She doesn\u2019t get me at all, which is hardly her fault, but I do treasure waltzing with her and playing Mr. Bunn at O2.\u00a0\u00a0 She is an utterly professional comedienne and totally reliable on stage, and never unprepared.\u00a0\u00a0 She reveals glimpses of her naughty life, but is far too decent to tell tales out of school\u2026.<\/p>\n

A Death in the Family\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Karl Ove Knausgaard<\/h2>\n

My Struggle:\u00a0 1.<\/p>\n

This one came highly recommended but I forget by whom.\u00a0\u00a0 Sadly I found this memoir of Norwegian adolescence over long and rather easy to put down.\u00a0\u00a0 Sorry.<\/p>\n

The Metaphysics of Ping Pong\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Guido Mina di Sospiro<\/h2>\n

An enthralling guide to the mystery, mastery and practice of Ping Pong, which of course led to some fine games with my son.<\/p>\n

Your Fathers, where are they? And the Prophets, do they live forever? Dave Eggers<\/h2>\n

Another challenging title from the wonderful Dave Eggers.\u00a0 This one is actually a play.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Written entirely in dialogue, it is the conversations of a psychotic loser who kidnaps people he wants to talk to.\u00a0 Fascinating and funny and black.\u00a0 I wonder if he did write it as a play but it certainly works as a novel, stripped bare of all description, so that character and action are both revealed through dialogue.<\/p>\n

Louis XIV\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Vincent Cronin<\/h2>\n

By way of something completely different I really enjoyed this 1964 life of the Sun King.\u00a0 More sympathetically written than many other biographies of this long reigning monarch who totally changed, and modernised France.\u00a0\u00a0 His faults he recognised, and in his long life he seems always to have behaved with decency, courtesy and at the end humility.\u00a0 A nice portrait of an important man.<\/p>\n

June<\/h1>\n

Early on in June I set off for the big adventure.\u00a0\u00a0 It didn\u2019t leave me much time to read at first.<\/p>\n

I travelled with the brilliant<\/p>\n

Lost for Words\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edward St. Aubyn<\/h2>\n

for whom I am lost in admiration.\u00a0\u00a0 This is a very funny satire on the Booker Prize, and committees and the vanity of authors.\u00a0\u00a0 Seriously funny.\u00a0\u00a0 Well worth another read.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I found calm and elegance in the sentences and quite exquisite writing in<\/p>\n

A Time To Keep Silence\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patrick Leigh Fermor<\/h2>\n

A 1957 classic collection of his visit to several monasteries.\u00a0\u00a0 An elegant and moving defence of the monastic life, its shocking austerity and its strength in surviving and building over the centuries.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This has been a month of rediscovering Muriel Spark.\u00a0 I always did adore her.\u00a0 I think she is so funny and yet oddly modern.\u00a0 I love her take on characters .\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This binge began when I found a nice 1984 first edition on Hatchards new old first edition shelves.\u00a0 A really good idea that one Hatchards.<\/p>\n

The Only Problem\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

This is about a man writing a monograph on The Book of Job and the complicated family interplay when his ex-wife joins a band of terrorists, leading to the unwelcome intervention of the French Police.\u00a0\u00a0 Out of such unlikely material she makes a thoroughly entertaining and knowledgeable comedy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This whetted my appetite and I found in Piccadilly a nice illustrated limited 1971 first edition of<\/p>\n

Not To Disturb\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

A squib of a book which reads like a film script.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A kind of comic mystery where the entire serving staff of a prosperous mansioned Swiss upper class family conspire to do them in.\u00a0\u00a0 Each member of the staff is carefully sketched in and it does indeed read like a fast moving movie.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps it was a film script at one time, but anyway it is very funny and lovingly skirts around the gruesome murders at the heart of the story.\u00a0 It\u2019s her black humour I think I find so attractive, done with such a light touch.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0She\u2019s like a murderous Maggie Smith, for whom of course, she wrote the brilliant movie of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.<\/p>\n

The Finishing School\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

I then found an unread paperback of a more recent 2004 novel. A surprisingly inventive tale of a not particularly happily married couple running a moving school in Switzerland, (they have to keep moving), \u00a0where in Rowlands creative writing class he is challenged by the arrival of a precocious young man who is already writing a novel which, to his chagrin, is soon picked up for publishing.\u00a0\u00a0 So this is a story of jealousy and creative envy and things might turn out very nasty indeed, but for a brilliant twist at the end which quite takes you by surprise.\u00a0\u00a0 Mordant masterly comic writing.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I love her.<\/p>\n

April May early June<\/h1>\n

Bark\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lorrie Moore<\/h2>\n

Excellent short stories.<\/p>\n

Encounter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Milan Kundera<\/h2>\n

Essays on writers and memoirs<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s that Lady?\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carey Harrison<\/h2>\n

\u201cThis is a magnificent book.\u00a0 A great achievement.\u00a0 Wise, witty, erudite, informative, learned and honest<\/p>\n

Carey Harrison has written a masterpiece.\u00a0\u00a0 I can\u2019t wait to read it again.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A superb novel from an old friend.\u00a0 I loved it.\u00a0 Please buy it and enjoy yourselves.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have been re-reading Raymond Chandler.\u00a0\u00a0 Here is the order in which I read them.\u00a0 I found that I had downloaded two onto my I Pad and they turned out to be a welcome treasure trove on a Mexican Holiday.\u00a0 \u00a0I began with:<\/p>\n

The Long Goodbye\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Chandler<\/h2>\n

This is simply a magnificent book.\u00a0\u00a0 A classic.\u00a0 I had forgotten how good it is.\u00a0 It surmounts the genre and can be set proudly alongside any major American novels of the 20th<\/sup> Century.\u00a0 He is a master of the art of short, simple, writing.\u00a0\u00a0 I devoured it and,\u00a0 as with all great books, felt saddened as the end approached. \u00a0One of the best American novels of the last century.<\/p>\n

The Big Sleep\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Chandler<\/h2>\n

I then read this, his first novel, which comes in fully laden, fully charged, with Philip Marlowe precisely delineated in this tale of the mad seductive sisters of the sad rich old man in the Orchidarium and\u00a0 Marlowe\u2019s compulsive habit of turning down money.\u00a0 This is almost the signature Chandler character keynote:\u00a0 the refusal to be swayed by money.\u00a0\u00a0 And it is important in all his books so that they are about a class struggle, between the monied classes who can afford to ignore and pay off the law and the poor schmuck whom they try and manipulate but who in the end makes the difficult choices and takes the beatings and is refused to be bribed off. \u00a0The Big Sleep is death of course.\u00a0\u00a0 Born in Chicago, educated at Dulwich College England,\u00a0 what are the odds Chandler would become the archetypal noir fictional writer of California, learning his trade from Hammet\u2019s Maltese Falcon.\u00a0 T<\/em>his his first novel is an extraordinary beginning.<\/p>\n

Playback\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Chandler<\/h2>\n

I found a nice 1958 first edition, second printing at Iliad.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s a fine edition.\u00a0 I love the typeface which is uncredited and the design of the book.\u00a0 The thing that makes Chandler so seductive is he uses very few words to paint his scenes.\u00a0 Like Hemingway but less deliberately.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Few adjectives.\u00a0 The simple word over the flash.\u00a0\u00a0 And the wit. It\u2019s like the wit of the Metaphysical poets in that it calls attention to itself.\u00a0 You are meant to notice the carefully chosen simile.\u00a0\u00a0 The metaphor is metaphysical. \u00a0In Playback\u00a0 (his last) it\u2019s still there, with the taut prose and the love for the missing lady.\u00a0 The flirtatious behaviour with the client.\u00a0 I\u2019m not even sure what the title means.\u00a0\u00a0 He is paid to pursue a lady.\u00a0 But it isn\u2019t as good as others.<\/p>\n

The Black-Eyed Blonde\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Benjamin Black<\/h2>\n

Oddly in the midst of my Chandler binge came this new Philip Marlowe detective novel under the name of Benjamin Black, which is the pen name used by John Banville for writing some rather good thrillers in the detective form.\u00a0 Now he turns to Chandler.\u00a0 It\u2019s a difficult choice.\u00a0 There is no doubt Banville\/Black can write anything he wants, but I do wish he wouldn\u2019t.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that he doesn\u2019t make a reasonably good stab at writing Chandler, but he doesn\u2019t totally get the brevity or the wit of the writing, and he flounders a little with what Chandler does effortlessly, capturing the geography and micro-climate of Forties Los Angeles.\u00a0 There are, of course, glaring inconsistencies, the British pub with the picture of the young Queen is from a way later LA, and there would only have been a young Queen anyway then, but these things are fine.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s just not Chandler.\u00a0 It\u2019s clever pastiche, which is dangerously close to parody.\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s a clever bugger though.<\/p>\n

The Little Sister\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Chandler<\/h2>\n

To cheer myself up I bought a First Edition of this book from Mystery Pier Bookshop, which is a fabulous place just behind Book Soup on Sunset that sells only First Editions.\u00a0 This 1949 First Edition with original slip cover was a delight to read and I love the way he writes sexy, seductive, but psychotic women.\u00a0 Here there are three major female characters in the tale of little shy innocent Miss Nobody in from the mid-West searching for her dear missing innocent brother who has become mixed up in blackmailing a mobster.\u00a0\u00a0 No surprise he turns up dead.<\/p>\n

The Brasher Doubloon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Chandler<\/h2>\n

This is a first edition in this form which is a republishing of The High Window<\/em><\/strong> under the film title with which they released it.\u00a0 It\u2019s dated August 17 1947 from The World Publishing Company who seem to specialise in publishing books of movies.\u00a0 It has yellowing paper but still a nice original cover with pictures of Gorge Montgomery and Nancy Guild.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I have to say the novel itself I found disappointing.\u00a0 Maybe one shouldn\u2019t binge too much\u2026.<\/p>\n

Chandlertown\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edward Thorpe<\/h2>\n

The Los Angeles of Philip Marlowe.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chandler\u2019s sense of place is very fine.\u00a0 This is a handy guide to some of the places featured in some of the novels.<\/p>\n

The Thin Man\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dashiell Hammett<\/h2>\n

Chandler\u2019s inspiration.\u00a0\u00a0 A short re-read.\u00a0\u00a0 Nick and Nora Charles are a delightful couple, but boy do they drink.\u00a0\u00a0 Hardly a page goes by without another cocktail.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s an ok yarn and I liked the period NY milieu but I think Chandler\u2019s prose is way better.\u00a0\u00a0 I shall read further because I always liked Hammett.<\/p>\n

The Carter of La Providence\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

I liked this one better than\u2026<\/p>\n

The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georges Simenon<\/h2>\n

Continuing the general thriller genre read.\u00a0 Not mad about this one.\u00a0\u00a0 But the virtue of Simenon is his brevity.<\/p>\n

Tenth of December \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 George Saunders<\/h2>\n

Where I\u2019m Calling From\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Carver<\/h2>\n

Ran out of reading and picked this up at The Elliot Bay Book Company in Seattle.\u00a0 Always dependable and interesting short stories.\u00a0 He is my favourite after Cheever.<\/p>\n

The Winter Horses\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

His latest and he is a good writer but please we want Bernie Gunther and those top Nazis\u2026.<\/p>\n

East of Eden\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Steinbeck<\/h2>\n

I bought a lovely signed limited first edition in London and have been saving it up.\u00a0\u00a0 I love it.\u00a0 He is such a great writer I can\u2019t believe I never read these books before.\u00a0\u00a0 Musings on evil and in particular the struggle of Cain and Abel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 With surely the most wicked female character in all of literature.\u00a0 What a joy to discover a classic at my age.<\/p>\n

March<\/h1>\n

The Complete Sherlock Holmes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle<\/h2>\n

Having watched the third series of Sherlock for the second time in a month I was tempted to tackle the original books and found much to enjoy on I pad.\u00a0\u00a0 They are always there for me.<\/p>\n

The World of Apples\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Cheever<\/h2>\n

A wonderful later collection of short stories in a lovely first edition from 1973.\u00a0 As if it were possible for his stories to get better these do.\u00a0 I particularly loved The Geometry of Love and the eponymous The World of Apples.<\/p>\n

Brown Dog\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jim Harrison<\/h2>\n

I poured into this new Jim Harrison and I really enjoyed it.\u00a0 I find the sheer energy of his sentences and the rough reality of his characters makes me want to continue reading him, so he\u2019s hard to put down.\u00a0 This one I felt I might have read before somewhere??\u00a0 Finding the dead Indian in the cold waters of the lake seemed familiar to me, but he develops the story on one hand in a farcical manner, with Brown Dog\u2019s attempts to shag and drink everything, and on the other Brown Dog seriously trying to protect the Indian Burial Site from the depravations of an academic lady whom he is boffing.\u00a0\u00a0 Much booze and misunderstandings follow and he almost makes jail, but he is so cheerfully an outsider of society and he has such a keen eye on the media and the total misunderstandings of the Press and Police that I find him really enjoyable.<\/p>\n

Dance for the Dead\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

I was still in a holiday reading mode so I plucked from the shelf an old Thomas Perry that I was pretty certain I had read before but which I had picked up in a nice hard copy at Iliad.\u00a0\u00a0 He didn\u2019t let me down on re-reading this Jane Whitefield Novel.\u00a0\u00a0 Good to have reliable authors.<\/p>\n

Holiday Reading February<\/h1>\n

I snatched a quick Mexican Beach break at the end of February, partly burned out from six months on the Python show and partly to avoid all the Oscar bollocks that invades this town.\u00a0\u00a0 I felt confident in my choice of books but in the event I was grateful for my I Pad to which I had to turn for some solid fall-back reading choices when others let me down\u2026<\/p>\n

The Goldfinch\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Donna Tart<\/h2>\n

I felt confident taking this since so many people seem to have enjoyed it and it is a best seller everywhere but I\u2019m afraid that after the first and highly dramatic opening scene I found her writing so prolix and her sense of drama so long winded that I lost all interest and ditched it fairly soon after I arrived.<\/p>\n

The Wind-Up Bird\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Haruki Murakami<\/h2>\n

I turned instead to the author I had\u00a0 recently discovered and enjoyed but I found him annoyingly slow too. I kept waiting for a story to break out.\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s so busy preparing dinner and listening to classical music that it takes ages for something to happen, far too long for a holiday read, so I ditched him too.<\/p>\n

The One From The Other\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

Fortunately Bernie Gunther is always busy.\u00a0\u00a0 Something is always happening.\u00a0\u00a0 Rich women, famous Nazis, Eichman even, and he loses a second wife to influenza.\u00a0 Some detectives have no luck.\u00a0 Or is it really influenza?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The great thing about Kerr is even the smallest threads are tied up.\u00a0 Nothing is entirely irrelevant.\u00a0 And he is a very funny writer.\u00a0\u00a0 I devoured it and was saddened by the thought that I have now read every single one of the Bernie Gunther books.\u00a0\u00a0 More please!<\/p>\n

After Dark\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Haruki Murakami<\/h2>\n

Fortunately I had brought a shorter back up Murakami and this one was both briefer and more enjoyable.<\/p>\n

Restoration, Charles II and his kingdoms\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tim Harris<\/h2>\n

I always like to take a history book and this one I felt sure would grip me but sadly no.\u00a0 Writers of His Story should remember that half of it is Story.\u00a0 Academically history can be a series of essays about aspects of the period, but only if you\u2019re studying it.\u00a0 Not if you are reading it for character, for drama and for the foibles of mankind, especially the rich and powerful, behaving in unseemly ways and suffering the consequences.\u00a0 Here we need wit, syphilis, mistresses, retribution, Catholicism and Revolution but it\u2019s as dull as a Dissenters Dinner.<\/p>\n

The Collected Stories of John Cheever\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Cheever<\/h2>\n

I ploughed gratefully into these on I Pad, despite the fact I have read them before in hardback.\u00a0\u00a0 His creation of the sad world of the commuter and the small businessman and family man and the suburban drinking at the club rings so real.\u00a0\u00a0 Shady Hill is aptly named and those that survive and thrive there and those that implode and fail there are magnificently rendered.\u00a0\u00a0 Most people lead lives of quiet desperation, and between Rome and Shady Hill he chronicles the life of keeping up appearances, the daily drudgery of the struggle for existence. He is rightly the master of the short story.<\/p>\n

The Long Goodbye\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Chandler<\/h2>\n

Mercifully I had downloaded some Chandler a long time ago for just such an emergency.\u00a0 The prospect of running out of reading abroad.\u00a0\u00a0 I had almost forgotten how great he is, and this is simply a magnificent book.\u00a0\u00a0 A classic.\u00a0 I had forgotten too how good he<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. He is a master of the art of short, simple, writing. I devoured it and,\u00a0 as with all great books, felt saddened as the end approached.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    January and February<\/h1>\n

    Othello\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Shakespeare<\/h2>\n

    One must always re-read Shakespeare and the more I do the more reasonable Iago\u2019s mad and vicious playing of his master seems.\u00a0\u00a0 He is<\/em> spurned for the job he wants, he is jealous of Cassio.\u00a0 There is no mystery.\u00a0 He just takes to extremes what we all occasionally feel.\u00a0 That is why in many ways this is a double tragedy.\u00a0 I was reading it at The Ahmanson when I went to see Christopher Plummer\u2019s wonderful one man show and the lovely girl greeting at the Restaurant said she kept a copy of Othello constantly by her bedside.\u00a0\u00a0 Are you tragic?\u00a0 I asked.\u00a0 Not at all, she chuckled.\u00a0 I gave her an extra big tip for her grace, her beauty, but largely for her book choice.<\/p>\n

    The Secret Life of Walter Mitty\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Thurber<\/h2>\n

    I had to download this to find out why the movie Mitty didn\u2019t work and of course it\u2019s evident, it\u2019s about a dreamer.\u00a0\u00a0 The tale doesn\u2019t work if he actually does <\/em>do brave adventures.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s only then about a shy adventurer.\u00a0 Not at all Mitty.\u00a0 No irony.\u00a0 No fun.<\/p>\n

    A Ghost at the Door\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Dobbs<\/h2>\n

    Described as the electrifying new Harry Jones thriller I\u2019m afraid I only found his writing so-so, exactly what I felt when I read the books that led to the original magnificent BBC TV series House of Cards.\u00a0 <\/em>It\u2019s a certain Bond kind of thriller writing which is closer to wish fulfilment than real life.\u00a0 Escapist fiction is probably it.\u00a0\u00a0 Jeffery Archer does it.\u00a0 And this chap too is apparently a Lord and worked in the House of Commons for Thatcher and Major.\u00a0 Affable enough, but in the end not good enough I\u2019m afraid.<\/p>\n

    Andrew\u2019s Brain\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E. L. Doctorow<\/h2>\n

    You know, somewhere along the line Doctorow lost it.\u00a0\u00a0 Oh he can write alright, but too often now I find it too easy to put his book down.\u00a0\u00a0 I liked the last one (Homer) but this one I found I couldn\u2019t read.<\/p>\n

    The Last Lion\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Manchester & Paul Reid<\/h2>\n

    Finally finished the last third of this last volume of the great Manchester biography, on my I Pad because the book is so heavy.\u00a0\u00a0 Very exciting read with the finish of World War Two, after six bleak years for an exhausted country, the amazement of D-Day, the final horrendous civilian bombing of London by the V2\u2019s, the first real rocket weapons, the liberation of Paris, the Battle of the Bulge and the invasion of Germany itself, which thanks to the millions Stalin was prepared to sacrifice, was a lot easier than it might have been.\u00a0\u00a0 Stalin running rings around a dying Roosevelt, and a helpless Churchill, preparing to bring down the Iron Curtain over Europe.\u00a0 This was the world I was born into.\u00a0 It should be required reading.\u00a0\u00a0 Then of course the Lion won\u2019t leave the stage, and the servicemen vote him out of office.\u00a0 He still returns, and I can remember that election on the radio!\u00a0 A massive man, and a massive biography.\u00a0 The world owes him a lot.<\/p>\n

    How it all Began\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penelope Lively<\/h2>\n

    I haven\u2019t read much of her but I enjoyed this witty book which illustrates chaos theory, how one random event, a mugging on a London street, can lead to disruption and chaos in the lives of so many others who are variously interconnected.\u00a0 A marriage falls apart from a randomly discovered affair, a famous pompous historian attempts to become a TV celeb and a middle aged immigrant discovers love through learning the language.\u00a0 Wise and funny and thoroughly enjoyable.<\/p>\n

    The Catcher in The Rye.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J.D. Salinger<\/h2>\n

    PBS did a brilliant TV biography of this reclusive writer, which showed his heart-breaking year of first combat (D Day!) through the long fight up to liberate Paris, the Battle of the Bulge, the slog into Germany, finally ending with the surreal nightmare of liberating Auschwitz, a horrendous year which would be enough to make anyone a recluse.\u00a0\u00a0 He carried with him bits of this novel, working on it when he had time.\u00a0\u00a0 We shall see whether the interesting decision to turn his back on the world after the enormous success of his first novel, really pays off, as perhaps ten more of his books are due to be published at regular intervals throughout the next few years.\u00a0 I re-read the Glass stories recently and found them to be quite over rated.\u00a0 I\u2019m afraid I started to re-read this \u201cclassic\u201d and dropped it quite quickly.\u00a0 Perhaps Gore Vidal was right?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And why did it became for a short time the murderers handbook.\u00a0\u00a0 Questions for others I\u2019m afraid.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    And now a treat for all of us.\u00a0 Penguin are publishing entirely new translations of the Inspector Maigret books of Georges Simenon, at regular intervals, one a month.\u00a0 I already can\u2019t wait for the next having already devoured:<\/p>\n

    Pietr the Latvian\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 George Simenon<\/h2>\n

    The first Maigret book.\u00a0 He seems to have sprung to life fully formed.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026his frame was proletarian.\u00a0 He was a big, bony man.\u00a0 Iron muscles shaped his jacket sleeves and quickly wore through new trousers.\u00a0 He had a way of imposing himself just by standing there.\u00a0 His assertive presence had often irked many of his own colleagues.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Here he chases down the mysterious many presences of Pietr the Latvian, a man composed of a confusing melange of characters and associates.<\/p>\n

    The Late Monsieur Gallet\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 George Simenon<\/h2>\n

    A beautiful book of a mysterious death in the Loire.\u00a0 Maigret is sent to investigate.\u00a0 His detective is as relentless and as instantly likeable as any great detective.\u00a0 More appealing than Poirot, more real than Sherlock.\u00a0 Perhaps I like him because I have been so enjoying Bernie Gunther from Philip Kerr.\u00a0 The more cynical and realistic side of real policing, rather than the Home Counties crimes of Agatha Christie.<\/p>\n

    A Philosophical Investigation\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

    Having spoken so flatteringly about Philip Kerr I had to put aside this book about murdering a serial killer because it gave me bad dreams.\u00a0\u00a0 I think that is a good enough warning.\u00a0 I cannot watch Dexter.\u00a0 A female detective from a favourite author, but I\u2019m sorry, I have to look after my own mental health.<\/p>\n

    Prayer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

    And this one too I didn\u2019t really enjoy so much as I was expecting.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I found it confusing, and I\u2019m still not quite sure what happens at the end.\u00a0 Perhaps it\u2019s the involvement of the God element, and killing through prayer, which leads us almost into Dennis Wheatley territory.\u00a0 It\u2019s set in the Houston FBI.\u00a0 And of course a chap is entitled not to be hobbled by the extraordinary success of the Bernie Gunther novels, but I can\u2019t wait to read another!<\/p>\n

    Jonathan Swift\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Leo Damrosch<\/h2>\n

    A rather long biography of Jonathan Swift, an old favourite of mine.\u00a0\u00a0 As usual, I got fairly nauseated by all the baby talk of the Stella letters, but there is so much else in the book.\u00a0 Perhaps the obverse of satire is sticky sentimentality, for a lot of them seem to have it.\u00a0\u00a0 And how odd that his great children\u2019s work is a detailed piece of satire on the then Government, which simply falls away for he is such a great story teller.\u00a0 Then of course I just had to read:<\/p>\n

    Gulliver\u2019s Travels\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jonathan Swift<\/h2>\n

    In a finely illustrated Windermere Series, which claims to be published in 1912, but which the good people at the Iliad Bookstore suggested might have been later, and the publishers were still pushing the early print run.\u00a0\u00a0 Either way a fine edition of a fine read.\u00a0 How strange it was all personal satire from his frustrating years at the pinnacle of power in London under Hervey and Co.\u00a0 Although I\u2019m ashamed to say I still can\u2019t tell a Whig from a Tory\u2026.<\/p>\n

    Flappers and Philosophers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald<\/h2>\n

    Short stories from the Twenties.\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s bang in form, magnificent writing, just shortly after his huge hit This Side of Paradise.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0He seems to write through scenes, delicately dropping phrases which somehow activate and bring to life a scene, so that his writing is as poetic as Shakespeare who has the same ability in verse drama.\u00a0 Also these stories seem to exhibit a world weariness and an almost sardonic view of relationships, especially amongst the suburban world of the commuter and New York, a definitely satirical view of how they despise the South and southerners.\u00a0\u00a0 I associate the bitter sweet world of marital problems, and failed aspirations\u00a0 (Head and Shoulders, The Ice Palace<\/em>) rather more with Cheever, who of course must find it in these stories.\u00a0 A delight.\u00a0\u00a0 And of course the hall mark of all great books:\u00a0 you dread it ending.<\/p>\n

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    2013<\/p>\n

    Ctrl-Alt- 1-2-3<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Here are the ten books I gave for Christmas:<\/p>\n

    Whatever it is I don\u2019t like it\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Howard Jacobson<\/h2>\n

    Why be Happy When You Could Be Normal?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeanette Winterson<\/h2>\n

    The Patrick Melrose Novels:\u00a0 Never Mind, Bad News, Some Hope & Mother\u2019s Milk\u00a0 by Edward St. Aubyn<\/h2>\n

    Berlin Noir March Violets.\u00a0 The Pale Criminal.\u00a0\u00a0 A German Requiem.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

    10:\u00a0\u00a0 What W. H. Auden can do for you\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alexander McCall Smith<\/h2>\n

     <\/p>\n

    And here are the runners up\u2026.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    A Delicate Truth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    When the Light Goes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Larry McMurtry<\/p>\n

    Cannery Row\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Steinbeck<\/h3>\n

    Casanova\u2019s Return to Venice\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Arthur Schnitzler<\/h3>\n

    Prague Fatale\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h3>\n

    City Primeval\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h3>\n

    Madame De\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Louise de Vilmorin<\/h3>\n

    Levels of Life\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Barnes<\/h3>\n

    The Luminaries\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eleanor Catton<\/h3>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    December<\/strong><\/h1>\n

    I really only read only two novels this month but both were enormous.<\/p>\n

    I also started a biography of Swift, and continued reading Clive.\u00a0 And I peeked into my pal Bruce Wagner\u2019s The Empty Chair, <\/em>but I need to warn him about ranting!<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Failed to finish<\/p>\n

    Traveling Sprinkler\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nicholson Baker<\/h2>\n

    And<\/p>\n

    Seven Deadlies\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gigi Levangie.<\/h2>\n

     <\/p>\n

    But these I did enjoy unreservedly\u2026<\/p>\n

    The Grapes of Wrath\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Steinbeck.<\/h2>\n

    Found a very nice 1st<\/sup> edition from 1939 to read this book for the very first time.\u00a0 Shame on me I know.\u00a0 But what a beautiful book.\u00a0 A magnificent novel.\u00a0 Written with a fine anger in lovely poetic prose.\u00a0\u00a0 He is a true successor to Dickens.\u00a0 Social commentary on the devastating effects of the Dust Bowl and modern farming methods on poor sharecroppers, who are forced to become migrants and face the unwelcoming Californians.\u00a0 Amazing writing, amazing feeling.<\/p>\n

    IQ84\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Haruki Murakami<\/h2>\n

    Recommended by my daughters room-mate, this is another huge novel.\u00a0 Mercifully for we travellers I found an edition in Seattle which divides it into three paperbacks, and I commenced the first part on the road in Chicago.\u00a0 I thought it was arresting, and very minimal and very well done.\u00a0 It\u2019s about a female assassin and a would-be novelist who is asked by an editor to conspire to re-write a young girl prodigy\u2019s new and slightly strange story.\u00a0 With this slender basis Murakami is good enough to keep you engrossed for the length of three whole paperbacks, twisting the tale into a fine thriller.\u00a0\u00a0 Seems odd I haven\u2019t read any of him before.\u00a0 Must look around.<\/p>\n

    November<\/strong><\/h1>\n

    The Luminaries\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eleanor Catton<\/h2>\n

    Booker Prize winner, rather fabulous and certainly deserved.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s really a Victorian novel set in the New Zealand gold rush of 1866.\u00a0\u00a0 We gradually learn just what went on from twelve witnesses to several incidents.\u00a0\u00a0 Fascinating, and tender and informative and beautifully written, it seems impossible to believe that this is only her second novel.\u00a0\u00a0 I read it throughout my stay in the UK.<\/p>\n

    Hitler\u2019s Peace\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

    Almost a what-if novel.\u00a0\u00a0 The Yalta Conference revisited with a most surprising attendee.\u00a0 Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, all the big boys, with an attempted plot to assassinate Stalin.\u00a0 How he does all this beats me, but I find him effortless and a joy to read, even though Bernie Gunther is not in this one.<\/p>\n

    Pride and Prejudice.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jane Austen<\/h2>\n

    The joy of re-reading.\u00a0 It gets better and better.\u00a0 Oh how we love Mr. Collins.\u00a0 I like to travel with the little Collectors Library Edition, very thin paper and very light.\u00a0\u00a0 Perfect for a plane.<\/p>\n

    Levels of Life\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Barnes<\/h2>\n

    Musings on life, musings on love and loss.\u00a0 Touching and wise.\u00a0\u00a0 Also fun stuff about Sarah Bernhardt and ballooning\u2026<\/p>\n

    October<\/strong><\/h1>\n

    David and Goliath\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Malcolm Gladwell<\/h2>\n

    Another from the interesting New Yorker writer.\u00a0\u00a0 Interesting insights and observations.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ve used the word interesting twice which alerts me I am trying to cover up the fact I found some parts a little dull\u2026.<\/p>\n

    The Circle\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dave Eggers<\/h2>\n

    Well this is 1984.\u00a0 Actually more like 2084.\u00a0\u00a0 For those of us who feel I-People are akin to a cult here is the novel of our anxieties.\u00a0\u00a0 What does it mean when we share everything on line, on camera, on email and twitter?\u00a0 Is this a sinister or a useful human social development?\u00a0\u00a0 Do we get closer to others, or further away from our real selves?\u00a0\u00a0 Mae is the Winston Smith of the book, who gets a job at the Silicone Valley online giant The Centre.\u00a0 Her moments of rebellion, solo kayaking, and furtive sex with a mysterious watcher, are used as examples against her.\u00a0 Carefully advised by her counsellors, she learns her lesson, outing herself in a series of Orwellian contradictions.\u00a0 History too is rewritten, as camera and digital data is re-interpreted.\u00a0 So yes it\u2019s a great idea, but I got the feeling that for once the film might be even better.\u00a0 Perhaps it\u2019s the character of Mae who rarely becomes more than a cypher or perhaps we get it too soon, we quickly understand the irony of freedom becoming repressive, \u00a0and hate the intrusive nature of this Maoist world, where self-criticism is used to keep the individual in line, so that the book seems overlong as it slowly works out its paradoxes: how working at The Centre transforms a bright intelligent young woman into a workaholic vessel, how it affects her relationship with her parents and former lover, how her world view is polluted by the shining guidelines of the Company, where everything is free, and nothing has any value.\u00a0\u00a0 Where cameras follow you for every waking hour and you must be careful what you think, and you must communicate all day or feel the sting of social criticism.\u00a0 Big Brother is watching you.\u00a0 Dystopia Ltd.<\/p>\n

    Clive\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Harvey<\/h2>\n

    The Life and Death of a British Emperor.<\/em><\/p>\n

    I\u2019m slowly working my way through this.\u00a0 I was always fascinated by the Fall of Clive.\u00a0 This history is a little slow but I haven\u2019t abandoned it, since I want to see how it turns out.<\/p>\n

    Hollywood Crows\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Wambaugh<\/h2>\n

    I finished this which I had started in June and was struck by how well he finishes his books, not something all novelists can do, but something vitally important in the detective thriller.\u00a0 His terrain of the Hollywood cops and the Hollywood moon that sets the denizens of Hollywood buzzing is exactly his own.\u00a0\u00a0 He has carved out this territory and nobody does it better.<\/p>\n

    A Man Without Breath\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

    My addiction grows.\u00a0 I\u2019m trying to ration myself to one Philip Kerr book a month but I don\u2019t know whether I can.\u00a0 Found a nice autographed copy at Vromans, the excellent bookstore in Pasadena.\u00a0 Between Berlin and Smolensk, Bernie is the same back chatting non Nazi cop.\u00a0 Here he is invited by Joey the Crip to exhume and examine the bodies of the thousands of Polish officers killed by the Red Army, on Stalin\u2019s orders at Katyn.\u00a0\u00a0 The irony of the Nazis investigating a Communist War Crime is not lost on him or his protagonist.\u00a0 Great stuff.<\/p>\n

    What W. H. Auden can do for you\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alexander McCall Smith<\/h2>\n

    A sweet little book which will whet your appetite for the real thing.\u00a0\u00a0 A major fan of Auden\u2019s shares his feelings and his favourite poems and his best thoughts.<\/p>\n

    I Curse the River of Time\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Per Petterson<\/h2>\n

    Last year a nice Norwegian journalist who was interviewing me gave me some Norwegian books so that I might know a little more about Norwegian writers.\u00a0 I could hardly know less, so it was a most kind gift.\u00a0 I enjoyed this beautiful story about a son and his mother and his life and her death.\u00a0 The quotation is from a poem by Mao. \u00a0\u00a0This is a line from the book.\u00a0 \u201cIt was like it always is with time, that it can slip through your fingers when you are not looking.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The Love-charm of Bombs\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lara Feigel<\/h2>\n

    Sometimes when you read a book, you think I got the gist, and put it aside.\u00a0 This is one of those, from the slightly ungainly title, to the sex lives of the less than famous, (with the exception of Graham Greene) this illustrates the truism that in war it\u2019s more than the gloves that come off.\u00a0\u00a0 What it does paint is the extraordinary image of London in the blitz, where every night more and more of the city went up in flames.\u00a0 The fact that the inhabitants reached for each other in those long terrifying nights could be attributed to DNA or just the fact that terror, loss and death makes you want to fuck.<\/p>\n

    September<\/strong><\/h1>\n

    Madame De\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Louise de Vilmorin<\/h2>\n

    A beautiful, very French,\u00a0 novella about marriage and a pair of ear rings.\u00a0 Written in a slightly antique style as befits the subject, by the exotic Louise, a novelist, poet, journalist and \u201cgrand horizontale\u201d and translated by her quondam lover Duff Cooper, the quondam British Ambassador to France.\u00a0 Forgive the repetition, it\u2019s quondam thing after another.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Solo \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd.
    \n<\/em><\/strong>A James Bond novel.
    \nI never thought Fleming was any good.\u00a0 I only read him recently and was surprised to find him almost as bad as I suspected, but I do rate William Boyd, so it’s a pity to find him slogging through a Bond novel.\u00a0\u00a0 It seems his heart isn’t in it.\u00a0 Anyway I left it behind in Paris, for somebody else….<\/p>\n

    Shangri-La\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Hilton
    \n<\/em><\/strong>Nice change at the Shangri-La Hotel in Paris to find this thirties yarn by\u00a0James Hilton instead of some religious bullshit book.\u00a0\u00a0 It’s very much a Ripping Yan, with the stiff upper lip narrative by Conrad the laconic hero of this improbable adventure, but he keeps the excitement coming in the Buchan style.
    \nCharacters are sketches, caricatures, but hey, it’s an innocent enough read.<\/p>\n

    If The Dead Rise Not\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

    He is an ace thriller writer. This one moves between Berlin in 1934 and ends up in Havana in 1954 before the crime is revealed.\u00a0 And you never see it coming.\u00a0\u00a0 Bernie Gunther is the perfect hero, flawed, smoking, drinking, womanising, hilarious.\u00a0 I defy you not to have a good time with him.<\/p>\n

    On The Edge\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edward St.\u00a0 Aubyn<\/h2>\n

    The trouble with discovering a new author whom you adore, is if you binge on their writing you eventually come across something that you don\u2019t like.\u00a0\u00a0 This for me was it.\u00a0\u00a0 The send up of the Esalen, New Age , touchy feely folk is funny for a while, but then reading about them is just as irritating as meeting them.\u00a0 So I chucked it I\u2019m afraid.<\/p>\n

    Caesar\u2019s Vast Ghost\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lawrence Durrell<\/h2>\n

    Aspects of Provence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I re-read it, mainly because I enjoy the story of Marius saving Rome, by refusing to battle the vast Teutonic barbarian horde as it heads south to threaten Rome, before he accustoms his army to seeing them as just an enemy and destroys them completely in Pourrieres\u2026\u00a0 A military genius even Caesar thought was the cat\u2019s pyjamas.<\/p>\n

    A Clue To The Exit\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edward St. Aubyn<\/h2>\n

    The first half I thought was one of the best books I have ever read.\u00a0\u00a0 Need to re-read it actually.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t quite maintain the vigour and strength of its opening, but still brilliant.\u00a0 A prolonged consideration of the nature of consciousness from a physical, philosophical and scientific perspective.\u00a0 The Oxford dilemma:\u00a0 Stuck on a train in Didcot.\u00a0 Witty, thoughtful, sensitive, intelligent.\u00a0 Superb stuff.<\/p>\n

    Unknown Man No.89\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

    Found a first UK edition in London.\u00a0 An early Leonard.\u00a0 And highly readable as usual.<\/p>\n

    August<\/strong><\/h1>\n

    Christopher Marlowe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Riggs<\/h2>\n

    Scholarly but slightly dull.\u00a0 So much is unnecessary.\u00a0 I abandoned at half time, which is the wrong time to abandon Marlowe.\u00a0 I shall perhaps take it up again later and skim, because the subject is interesting if the author is not.<\/p>\n

    City Primeval\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

    Read in a day.\u00a0 Impossible to put down.\u00a0 The first I have read since he died, but of course he isn\u2019t any more dead to me than he ever was.\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s alive the minute you pick up his amazing pages.\u00a0 And I will go on reading him until I pop off.\u00a0\u00a0 I would guess it\u2019s about 80% dialogue, but he seems able to establish real believable characters whom you think you know, and are certain to visualize, almost instantaneously.\u00a0\u00a0 How does he do that?\u00a0 Of course the basis of his books seem to be Westerns, there are good men and there are bad men, and here he actually ends with a shoot-out.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s also subtitled High Noon in Detroit.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    In the matter of Alvin B. Guy, Judge of Recorder\u2019s Court, City of Detroit: The investigation of the Judicial Tenure Commission found the respondent guilty of misconduct in office and conduct clearly prejudicial to the administration of justice. The allegations set forth in the formal complaint were that Judge Guy:\u00a0 Was discourteous and abusive to counsel, litigants, witnesses, court personnel, spectators and news reporters.
    \n2) Used threats of imprisonment or promises of probation to induce pleas of guilty.
    \n3) Abused the power of contempt.
    \n4) Used his office to benefit friends and acquaintances.
    \n5) Bragged of his sexual prowess openly.
    \n6) Was continually guilty of judicial misconduct that was not only prejudicial to the administration of justice but destroyed respect for the office he holds.<\/p>\n

    Ride down Woodward Avenue into the Motor City, toward a deadly show-down between dedicated homicide detective Raymond Cruz and a psychopathic murderer, \u201cOklahoma Wildman\u201d Clement Mansell, who picked the wrong town to kill someone, even if it was only a crooked judge. Murder in Motown!\u00a0 Mansell picked the wrong place to go on a rampage. Homicide Detective Raymond Cruz doesn\u2019t care who it is; nobody kills in his town.<\/p>\n

    Road Dogs \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

    At some point in the summer I re-read this, which brings back three of his favourite characters\u2014Jack Foley from Out of Sight<\/strong>, Cundo Rey from La Brava, and Dawn Navarro from Riding the Rap\u2014for \u201c a twisting, explosive, always surprising masterwork of crime fiction.\u201d\u00a0 Foley was the Clooney one.<\/p>\n

    Zoo Time\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Howard Jacobson<\/h2>\n

    Well not for the first time I change my\u00a0 mind.\u00a0 I loved this book on second reading.\u00a0 He is so completely funny.\u00a0 The opening few chapters are hysterical.\u00a0\u00a0 The Northern novelist self-mockery, the observation of the state of published fiction, of the dearth of readers, all superbly realised.\u00a0 I had the feeling I would enjoy it more the second time and should give it another go and I did.\u00a0 Perhaps too, in paperback it seems less portentous, more mocking of the serious novel, than being that.\u00a0 It is that, serious, too, and ends with fine irony, his wife whose literary pretensions he has scoffed at throughout, turns out to be the successful one, but even then he succeeds, succeeds in writing \u201cpopular\u201d fiction under a pseudonym, while the mother in law whom he fancies goes off with his publisher.\u00a0\u00a0 I did it a disservice.\u00a0 I was wrong.\u00a0 As we say up North \u201cIs it me, or can you smell gas?\u201d<\/p>\n

    Catch 22\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Heller<\/h2>\n

    I was discussing with a friend how some novels which we read avidly in our teens and early twenties no longer stand up to re-reading, or we no longer regard them with such affection.\u00a0 Is it them, or is it us?<\/p>\n

    Examples:\u00a0 Lawrence Durrell and The Alexandrian Quartet, Ulysses<\/strong>, and now I have been re-reading Catch 22<\/strong> and it didn\u2019t do it for me.\u00a0 Nothing wrong, I simply had had the gags and didn\u2019t want to revisit the territory.\u00a0\u00a0 Whereas Dickens gets better by the re-read, apart say from The Old Curiosity Shop<\/strong> and the nauseating Little Nell and the wildly unfunny Pickwick Papers<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 The exception for me with Lawrence Durrell is his excellent book Provence.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

    Berlin Noir<\/h2>\n

    March Violets.\u00a0 The Pale Criminal.\u00a0\u00a0 A German Requiem.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

    The First Three Bernie Gunther novels.<\/em><\/p>\n

    This has been my year for discovering the Edinburgh born Philip Kerr, and this summer I have binged on his books.\u00a0 Fortunately there are tons of them.\u00a0 His Bernie Gunther detective novels are about as good as it gets, plus they are set fascinatingly in Berlin during the Nazi period, so that we get a sense of how such an evil invades and takes over by small steps, while many were against it, but it is difficult to face the encroaching daily choices, and the risk of being murdered for speaking out.\u00a0 The joy of Bernie, is that he invariably speaks out, often in the face of the real Himmler, or Heydrich.\u00a0\u00a0 Meanwhile he writes great detective fiction, shags the most delicious women, drinks and smokes and through him we see the rise and fall of Nazism and the appalling end Berlin undergoes.\u00a0 Invasion by the Russians?\u00a0\u00a0 No, crucifixion please.<\/p>\n

    At Last\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edward St. Aubyn<\/h2>\n

    My other recently discovered author is Edward St. Aubyn and I binged with great delight on The Patrick Melrose Novels.\u00a0\u00a0 This, the final one, I had started previously, but didn\u2019t get as it is set at the funeral of the mother of the protagonist and you really have to read them in order to understand who is what, and what they did to who.\u00a0 In particular here he examines Eleanor the mother, and her complicity in the awful relationship with his father which permitted this poor child to be so sadistically and brutally bullied and sexually abused.\u00a0 A delightfully written and sympathetic conclusion to a life examined.<\/p>\n

    Casanova\u2019s Return to Venice\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Arthur Schnitzler<\/h2>\n

    A lovely book in a lovely pocket paperback edition by Pushkin Press.\u00a0 Here, the sadly elderly Casanova is lingering around Mantua, waiting for permission to return to Venice, where he will accept the ignominious job of government spy. \u00a0His powers waning, but not his interest in seduction, he has to face the decline of his fame, a challenge from a younger self, and encounters with both young and old females who want him virtually as a trophy, because of his reputation.\u00a0\u00a0 At a friend\u2019s house he behaves despicably to gain his way with a young woman who does not want him, bribing his rival, only to have to face a naked duel and his own feelings about his decline.\u00a0 So, then a book about mortality and morality, written by the excellent Austrian author Arthur Schnitzler, whom I have always enjoyed.<\/p>\n

    The Reign of Beau Brummel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Willard Connely<\/h2>\n

    A nice 1940 edition, picked up in a second-hand bookshop in Chichester.\u00a0 A finely written story of the life of the Beau, who seems not only madly self-centred and utterly entitled, but vain, and not a little gay.\u00a0\u00a0 He seems to be a bitchy queen half his life, and while he has many female admirers, with whom he gossips and corresponds,\u00a0 he doesn\u2019t seem to sleep with them.\u00a0 Hello<\/em>?\u00a0\u00a0 Yes he is funny and foolishly brave insulting the Prince Regent when he is cut by him on Piccadilly, (\u201cAlveney, who is your fat friend?\u201d) but his entire life is dressing up, and three hours toilette and he changed his lingerie three times a day, so if that isn\u2019t the height of narcissism what is?\u00a0 His gambling addiction and his penchant for borrowing money from his aristocratic friends makes it virtually inevitable he has to run away to Calais, where he lives in great style, but constantly on the edge of poverty by continually writing to and borrowing from old acquaintances.\u00a0 His sense of entitlement never leaves him, as he becomes Consul in Caen for a moment before talking himself out of a job.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps this is the gamblers vice, to lose everything.\u00a0\u00a0 He declines into squalor, sued by a former friend and thrown into prison, freed by friends, only to end up in a madhouse as reality overtakes his vanity.\u00a0\u00a0 I thought it might make a nice play and then the Beau would of course have to be played by Simon Russell Beale.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Excellent biography.<\/p>\n

    Outrageous Fortune\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Russell<\/h2>\n

    A friend sent this advanced copy for a comment, the biography of a boy growing up in Leeds Castle, but I\u2019m afraid I found it uninteresting.<\/p>\n

    Low Life\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeremy Clarke<\/h2>\n

    One middle-aged man in search of The Point.<\/p>\n

    A friend sent me this, and then brought him to dinner.\u00a0 Very funny pieces by the low life correspondent of the Spectator.\u00a0 In his own words:\u00a0 \u201cHe remains an undiscovered talent.\u201d\u00a0 Modest, witty, and hilarious.<\/p>\n

    June and July<\/strong><\/h1>\n

    Gunsights\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

    Finished the month with a Leonard.\u00a0 I had never read one of his Westerns before and of course he never disappoints.\u00a0\u00a0 Is it Oscar Wilde, the good end happily, the bad unhappily, that is the point of fiction?\u00a0 Anyway it leaps off the page and is excellent summer reading.<\/p>\n

    Cannery Row\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Steinbeck<\/h2>\n

    I can\u2019t believe I have never read this beautiful poem of a book before:\u00a0 elegant, short, exquisitely written interweaving tales of the inhabitants of a small Northern Californian fishing town.\u00a0 It\u2019s the refreshing non-judgemental attitude of Steinbeck to his characters that makes it so enjoyable.\u00a0 That and his prose.\u00a0 How\u2019s this for an opening?\u00a0 \u201cCannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream.\u00a0 Cannery Row is the gathered and scattered, tin and iron and rust and splintered wood, chipped pavement and weedy lots and junk heaps, sardine canneries of corrugated iron, honky tonks, restaurants and whore houses, and little crowded groceries, and laboratories, and flophouses.\u00a0 It\u2019s inhabitants are, as the man once said, \u201cwhores, pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches,\u201d by which he meant Everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

    First Published in 1945 I read a beautiful Penguin Steinbeck Centennial Edition paperback, set in Bembo.\u00a0 I shall read it again.<\/p>\n

    Pronto\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

    Well yes I\u2019d read it before ( in July 1998) but who doesn\u2019t love this first tale of US Marshall Raylan Givens, tracking the corrupt bookie who flees to Italy to avoid being hit by a fat, lazy Florida mob boss.\u00a0\u00a0 Leonard says that Raylan is his favourite character and no wonder, he really is the old Western sheriff, with his country hat and his cowboy boots and his unshakeable pursuit of villainy.\u00a0 I love Justified<\/em> and it\u2019s Raylan than makes it work and it was a treat all the way to read this again.\u00a0 This book ends where the TV series begins, with his fast draw down on the Zip at a restaurant table.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The Patrick Melrose Novels:\u00a0 Never Mind, Bad News, Some Hope & Mother\u2019s Milk\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 by Edward St. Aubyn<\/h2>\n

    I was shocked at how good these four novels are.\u00a0\u00a0 First of all he writes better prose than Bruce Chatwin and the tales he tells are full of dark truth.\u00a0 You know these things took place.\u00a0 I was actually shocked by the child molesting which occurs early in the first novel in the sequence Never Mind<\/strong> and the books explore the attempt by the protagonist Patrick Melrose to put his life back together after his appalling father bullies and assaults him in the early sixties in Provence.\u00a0 But they are also brilliantly witty and hilarious. In Bad News<\/strong> the tale jumps starkly forward to the now grown boy\u2019s junkie years in New York, <\/strong>to return in Some Hope<\/strong> to an hilarious account of an upper class birthday party with an outstandingly funny pillorying of Princess Margaret which had me laughing out loud with joy.\u00a0 He captures the whole braying world of a really nasty class of English people which is at once a joy to read and a necessary corrective from the soft soap opera of the dear aristocrats portrayed so untruthfully and nauseatingly in Downton Abbey.\u00a0\u00a0 Funny, and bitter, and satirical, it is at once better and grittier than Evelyn Waugh, and that from me. (?)\u00a0\u00a0 I read all four in one lovely Picador Paperback original which restores one\u2019s faith in Publishers.\u00a0\u00a0 I can\u2019t wait to get home and finish At Last,<\/strong> the final book in the series, which I was enjoying, but got distracted from when I picked it up from Mr. B\u2019s last year. \u00a0\u00a0I understand now why.\u00a0 It is important to read them in order.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Between The Assassinations\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Aravind Adiga<\/h2>\n

    From the author of the Man Booker Prize-winning The White Tiger<\/em> I really enjoyed these tales set in Kittur, India.\u00a0 However, I did find that the track of the stories were similar, people seeking to rise above their station and falling from their aspirations, as they banged against the class and caste systems of this Indian city.\u00a0 Once this pattern emerged, I found them harder to enjoy, as each protagonist suffers the same fall, and so they are all about loss and disappointment, which is perhaps an Indian attitude.\u00a0\u00a0 Or maybe it\u2019s Oxford?<\/p>\n

    When the Light Goes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Larry McMurtry<\/h2>\n

    A novel about sex in old age.\u00a0\u00a0 And a good one.\u00a0\u00a0 He picks up the tale of\u00a0 a character who first appeared in The Last Picture Show and who he has revisited often.\u00a0\u00a0 Duane Moore comes home to find a young attractive executive working in his office.\u00a0 He fancies his shrink, and she, deep in grief, abandons the profession to give him some much needed tips on sexual pleasure.\u00a0\u00a0 The beneficiary is obvious, but satisfying.\u00a0\u00a0 Highly enjoyable.\u00a0\u00a0 Like sex in old age\u2026.<\/p>\n

    Queen of Scots\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The true tale of Mary Stuart\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Guy<\/h2>\n

    So, just to prove it is possible to read many books at once I read this fine biography, by a Cambridge Historian, of the tragic Queen who fell into the hands of the all-powerful Elizabeth.\u00a0\u00a0 Her end is well known, but her beginnings in the Court of France under Catherine de Medici, married to Henri II of France, her education by his mistress Diane de Poitiers and her Uncles, the occasionally all-powerful Guises is a fascinating tale.\u00a0 Mary is married to the weakling King of France Francis II, who doesn\u2019t last long, after which she returns to Scotland for the first time as an adult and has to deal with the obnoxious Knox, the mistrustful and inscrutable Protestant enemy Cecil and his vacillating virgin Queen as well as the jealousies and intrigues of the Scottish nobles and the powerful surges of Protestant and Catholic hatred.\u00a0 One can feel nothing but pity for her as she\u00a0 has husbands and friends murdered around her, falls for the horrible Bothwell, is kicked off the throne and imprisoned in England for nineteen years by the insanely jealous Elizabeth, before leading Cecil\u2019s secret service to the proofs of her desperate plots to escape, her inevitable trial for treason and the tragic farce of her execution.\u00a0 The stagecraft which she employs, to set herself up as a Catholic Martyr, is her final scene of Tudor Reality TV.\u00a0\u00a0 The Kardashians have nothing on her.\u00a0 This is the best book I have ever read on her.<\/p>\n

    Sabbath\u2019s Theater\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

    It starts out so energetically, with such force, so well written like a meteor, with the tale of Sabbath\u2019s passion for his Croat mistress and the consequences of their sexuality, and then suddenly and unexpectedly collapses into a long almost incessant moan of complaint by the sixty year old puppeteer, who causes his wife Roseanne to collapse into alcoholism, his other actress wife Nikki to disappear, and a young student to expose him (accidentally) as a serial molester of students.\u00a0 Meanwhile he blusters on and on, justifying his geriatric sex antics that one grows quite tired of his endless justifying of his own desires, and his harking back over his happy days with the whores of South America.\u00a0 He is such a brilliant writer and this book is filled with his effortless bringing to life of scenes, but in the end I tired of it and decided to put it to one side.<\/p>\n

    Ulysses\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Joyce.<\/h2>\n

    A nice copy, an unabridged re-publication of the original Shakespeare and Company edition published in Paris by Sylvia beach in 1922 tempted me once again to give this a go.\u00a0 About a quarter way through I was tempted by something else and set it aside for a while.\u00a0 It\u2019s not in my top 100\u2026 It\u2019s amongst the world\u2019s top unread books.<\/p>\n

    Madame Bovary\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gustave Flaubert<\/h2>\n

    Continuing my summer bi-lingual reading I am still slowly working through this in French.\u00a0 I have the translation to hand.\u00a0 Emma is with Rostand.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s as good as I can get in French reading and improves both my language skills and my appreciation of Flaubert\u2019s cinema-like rendition of scenes and emotion.<\/p>\n

    The Last Lion.\u00a0\u00a0 Winston Spencer Churchill\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Manchester& Paul Reid<\/h2>\n

    Defender of the Realm\u00a0\u00a0 1940 – 1965<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I am also still working through this classic monster book on World War Two.\u00a0 It is intriguing to read what is going on in that tiny brave beleaguered island as they face the appalling sacrifices of six years of total war, held together by the wilful bravery of one of the finest drinkers the planet has ever known.\u00a0 I appear first as a tiny molecule around the North African campaign and then am born just at the time that the tide of war has finally turned.\u00a0 There will still be almost another three years of world carnage, culminating in the birth of nuclear warfare, the rise of America, and the exhausted decline of Great Britain as a world power, having pawned her all (to America) to barely survive.\u00a0 Major stuff.<\/p>\n

    A Quiet Flame\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

    This lovely Philip Kerr novel has a sympathetic German protagonist who was a cop in Berlin during the Nazi era.\u00a0 He has survived the war, and this one is set in post war Peronist Argentina, with Eva herself appearing, It reveals startling \u201cfacts\u201d about how Argentina constructed its own death camps for poor Jewish immigrants.\u00a0\u00a0 The country (and story) is filled with real life escaped German Nazis, such as Mengele and Boorman and ex-Policeman Bernie Gunther is hired to pursue an escaped serial killer amongst the Nazi \u00e9migr\u00e9s, a Berlin crime previously encountered in an earlier novel.\u00a0\u00a0 A fascinating and unusual tale and my favourite of his so far.\u00a0 He is really good and I have enjoyed passing along recommendations to happy people.<\/p>\n

    May<\/strong><\/h1>\n

    The Loved One\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh<\/h2>\n

    Described as an Anglo-American tragedy, Waugh\u2019s satirical novella is set in Hollywood, and is about an Englishman who has fallen out of the movies and now works at a pet cemetery.\u00a0 After the literal fall, by suicide of his house mate he becomes acquainted with the world of Whispering Glades, <\/em>and studies the funeral business for humans, falling in love with the unfortunate Aimee, who is torn between Mr Joyboy, who makes up dead faces into smiles for her, and Dennis who gives her classic poems from the English poets which he pretends are his.\u00a0\u00a0 Genuinely funny and revealing of a lost world of the English abroad in the Studio System of Hollywood.\u00a0\u00a0 Nice UK 1948 First edition.<\/p>\n

    The Farmer\u2019s Daughter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jim Harrison<\/h2>\n

    Two really excellent novellas and a third about lycanthropy which I found less compelling.\u00a0 In the first an abandoned daughter learns to come to terms with her murderous revenge instincts towards a cruel rapist and her acceptance of the possibility of love and in the second Brown Dog<\/em> a native American hiding in Toronto with his adopted daughter, escapes back to America with a rock and roll show.\u00a0 Both of these are tremendously well written, and powerful and great fun.<\/p>\n

    Kingsblood Royal\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sinclair Lewis<\/h2>\n

    1947 First Edition picked up at Earthling.\u00a0 Started with two of the\u00a0 most hilarious chapters and then settled down into a story of snobbery, about the man pursuing the family myth that they might be descended from Kings, only to find in reality they are descended from a full negro.\u00a0 This is a good gag, but the time in which it is written is more revealing about America\u2019s long crawl out of its racist journey, than how you might tackle such a story today.\u00a0 Mercifully the full horror of the context has evolved a little.<\/p>\n

    Caroline\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cornelius Medvei<\/h2>\n

    I must have picked this curio up at Mr B\u2019s in Bath.\u00a0 It\u2019s the story of a family on holiday and dad\u2019s involvement with an enchanting donkey called Caroline.\u00a0 He\u2019ll do anything for a nice piece of ass.\u00a0 No, sorry.\u00a0 It\u2019s not like that at all.<\/p>\n

    The Farmer\u2019s Hotel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John O\u2019Hara<\/h2>\n

    An unexpectedly delightful little novel that I picked up as a First Edition at Earthling in Walla Walla.\u00a0 He really is a delightful writer.\u00a0 This 1951 novel about a snowstorm at the opening of a small hotel in Pennsylvania is charming and surprising by turn.\u00a0 The characters swiftly and deftly sketched, and the drama unfolds with great humour.\u00a0 He really is a wonderful discovery.\u00a0\u00a0 I intend to hunt him down in old bookshops.<\/p>\n

    Why be Happy When You Could Be Normal?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeanette Winterson<\/h2>\n

    This is a wonderful book, from its hilarious title to its touching and movingly honest ending.\u00a0 It is a terrific tale, the magnificently hilarious story of Jeannette Winterson herself growing up in Accrington, adopted into the home of the freakily wonderful mad comic personage of Mrs Winterson, a creature so fabulously funny that, if you didn\u2019t have to live with her, you might assume she was made up, by someone like Dickens.\u00a0 The now-successful author observes this comic monster in hindsight with precision, and even forgiveness,\u00a0 and makes of her an all-time unforgettable character.\u00a0 Not since George Melly have I so enjoyed the honest tale of a Northern upbringing.\u00a0 Strongly recommended for all readers. I picked it up in Seattle airport and could hardly put it down.<\/p>\n

    A Delicate Truth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

    A delightful book.\u00a0 One of the best of his most recent works.\u00a0 The tale is dark and engaging, and the secret services and political world have become once again the dark places of corruption and intrigue which he first explored in The Spy Who Came In From the Cold.\u00a0 <\/em>Quite a complex tale and one I regretted interrupting several times as I travelled, and one I intend re-reading at a sitting, as its yarn demands.<\/p>\n

    Swag\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

    I might indeed have read this before as it was previously published under another title, but I cannot find any trace of it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 About two hoodlums and low rent guys in Detroit who aspire to be more successful.\u00a0 Ten rules for getting away with armed robbery.\u00a0 A very enjoyable read.<\/p>\n

    Dead Babies\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/h2>\n

    Perhaps the hardest thing to do in the world is write a comic novel.\u00a0 This absolutely rocks it in a tale of the drug induced, sexually indulgent world of young people in the Seventies.\u00a0\u00a0 Laugh out loud story-telling, this goes off like a rocket, and even ends darkly, and not sentimentally, which is the downfall of most comic novels.\u00a0\u00a0 I found a nice 1975 first edition to read and I loved it.\u00a0 Darker and funnier than even his Dad.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The Great Gatsby\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald<\/h2>\n

    I re-read this in case I see the movie.\u00a0 A beautiful First edition from 1925, with a facsimile slip cover.<\/p>\n

    There is something wonderful about re-reading a favourite book in its original edition. It\u2019s as fine and lovely and epic and poetic as ever.\u00a0 Like a Greek tragedy with its inevitable bloody end.\u00a0 No one is at Gatsby\u2019s funeral.\u00a0 All the people who came to his parties despised him.\u00a0 He causes the death of Tom Buchanan\u2019s mistress and the alienation of his wife, and pays for it, when Buchanan betrays him to the grief stricken Wilson.\u00a0\u00a0 The book is about wealth, the rich are<\/em> different.\u00a0 Daisy (who actually causes the accident that kills) disappears back into her wealth.\u00a0 Buchanan feels justified.\u00a0 Gatsby himself is extinguished in his great house looking out towards the green light on Daisy\u2019s dock at East Egg, in the end a metaphor for the gap that these Westerners cannot bridge in their new lives in the East.\u00a0 Carroway hates the Buchanan set more than the pretentions of Gatsby, and is at the end, with him alone in his death.<\/p>\n

    Ghost Man\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Roger Hobbs<\/h2>\n

    A rather fine and highly readable thriller by a young man from Portland.\u00a0\u00a0 Cleverly intertwining the story of two heists, he has absorbed the many who have preceded him in this form to create a very fine debut.\u00a0 It\u2019s destined to be a best seller and a movie.\u00a0\u00a0 I have an autographed copy from Book Soup.\u00a0 \u00a0Very good yarn for a holiday read.<\/p>\n

    God Knows\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Heller<\/h2>\n

    I found a nice signed limited first edition of this autobiography of King David and was enjoying it, as was he, until I suddenly lost interest, because no plot had yet kicked in.<\/em>\u00a0 Odd isn\u2019t it, that that\u2019s the hook that lands the fish. If you don\u2019t tell us a story you\u2019re just talking, and no matter how clever or how witty you are it just won\u2019t do.\u00a0 So I laid it aside.\u00a0 I had intended to re-read Catch 22<\/em> before finding these two at Iliad.\u00a0 I see it\u2019s down in my list of books pre-1992 before the list began and they were all shipped from London.<\/p>\n

    March thru April<\/strong><\/h1>\n

    The Mansions of Limbo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dominick Dunne<\/h2>\n

    Dominick was a very agreeable guy and in his writing he is agreeable company, but in the end his obsession with the very wealthy is cloying.\u00a0 Reading this book from the early 90\u2019s with the benefit of hindsight, the rich with their snobbish ways are almost all dead, and only the murderers remain alive.\u00a0 He is better at the terrifying Kashoggi than pandering to Princess Thurm und Taxis.\u00a0\u00a0 Rich old men, young beautiful women, nothing changes\u2026<\/p>\n

    Portrait of an artist as an old man\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Heller<\/h2>\n

    His final novel.\u00a0 I found a nice 1st<\/sup> edition from 1999 at Iliad.\u00a0 I love Heller.\u00a0 This book is about an elderly iconic comic novelist struggling to write a final classic novel.\u00a0\u00a0 He rejects several false starts before settling on writing a final comic novel about an iconic novelist trying to write his final comic novel.\u00a0 It\u2019s great fun.\u00a0 And very revealing of the optimistic bravery of Heller at the end of his life, and the insane urge to continue writing, despite the knowledge that almost all great novelists commit suicide or end in despair.\u00a0\u00a0 Black humor to the end.<\/p>\n

    The Switch\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

    A nice reprint edition from Book Soup.\u00a0\u00a0 The biter bit is often the subtitle of his plots.\u00a0 Loved it of course.<\/p>\n

    Prague Fatale\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n

    Nice lady at Book Soup recommended this.\u00a0 Actually most of his books, but I chose this one for a plane journey.\u00a0 He writes well.\u00a0\u00a0 An odd area for crime novels, set in 1941 Berlin under Hitler, a non-Nazi detective pursues a case.\u00a0 Interesting and excellent travel read.\u00a0\u00a0 One of the things I love most about reading is the occasional felicitous synchronicity, for example here while reading the assassination of Heydrich in Prague in fiction, it also cropped up in historical reality in the Churchill biography. (cf)<\/p>\n

    The Last Lion.\u00a0\u00a0 Winston Spencer Churchill\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Manchester& Paul Reid<\/h2>\n

    Defender of the Realm\u00a0\u00a0 1940 – 1965<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Thrilled to discover that the classic biography by William Manchester has been finished by another hand.\u00a0 This is the third and final volume.\u00a0 It\u2019s utterly compelling.\u00a0 The first is the best, the second you can skip as he is out of power and mainly stays home frustrated, but this ought to be taught in schools.\u00a0\u00a0 No one remembers WW2 anymore, which is a pity as it was the most disruptive, disgusting world event in history, and millions were killed and enslaved and Britain survived only by the will of Churchill, and by pawning the British Empire to America for second hand boats\u2026 until finally the Japanese struck and made up Roosevelt\u2019s mind for him.<\/p>\n

    I also downloaded this onto my mini-pad as it is a wrist-breaking monster of a book.\u00a0 I recommend that way of reading this admirable book.<\/p>\n

    N.W.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Zadie Smith<\/h2>\n

    I couldn\u2019t get into this.\u00a0 My fault probably.\u00a0 New barbaric Britain is so depressing.\u00a0\u00a0 Autographed though so I must have picked it up in Hatchards.<\/p>\n

    Split Images\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

    Found a nice 1981 first edition, with an autographed envelope from the author.\u00a0 Great read.\u00a0 Thrilling and exciting.\u00a0 About the rich murderer who does it for kicks.\u00a0 I\u2019m not giving anything away, that\u2019s up front.<\/p>\n

    Reader\u2019s Block\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Markson<\/h2>\n

    Improbably, utterly and against all expectation I totally loved this book.\u00a0 At first sight I disliked it, discarded it but constantly came back to it until I could not put it down.\u00a0 It is a book like no other. \u00a0No character, no plot, no description.\u00a0 \u00a0It is more like a commonplace book.\u00a0 It consists of hundreds of quotations, and references and facts about writers, painters and artists. It is hypnotic like poetry, and fascinating like philosophy.\u00a0 As he himself describes it:\u2013 Nonlinear.\u00a0 Discontinuous.\u00a0 Collage-like.\u00a0 An assemblage<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    David Markson<\/em>, Postmodern Experimental Novelist, Is Dead at 82<\/a> You +1’d this publicly.\u00a0Undo<\/a><\/h3>\n

    Jun 7, 2010 \u2013 Mr. Markson’s wry, elliptical novels were almost always surprisingly engaging and underappreciated<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Glitter Dome\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Wambaugh<\/h2>\n

    Darker than some of his books.\u00a0 The crime when finally revealed is nauseating, \u00a0but this tale somehow failed to connect for me.\u00a0 He tends to build up situation and narrative through various protagonists, almost always cops, but here I kept forgetting what was going on.\u00a0\u00a0 His lack of skill or my lack of concentration.\u00a0 Still many memorable things.\u00a0 The incomparably sad life of the policeman.\u00a0 I like his books though and will continue exploring him.<\/p>\n

    Anna Karenina\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Leo Tolstoy<\/h2>\n

    Still pursuing this.\u00a0\u00a0 I decided I only really like the Anna scenes, and find that the Levin scenes are a bit of a waste of time\u2026..<\/p>\n

    Light In August\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Faulkner<\/h2>\n

    I loved this exquisite novel with it\u2019s complicated way of telling a story, skipping from one character to another so we finally piece together what is happening from several different viewpoints.\u00a0 First the pregnant Lena, then Byron Brown, and then the early days of Joe then Burden for a while until he murders his landlady lover and is hunted down. \u00a0\u00a0The crazy old Grandfather and his wife determined to thwart him.\u00a0 All in the most beautiful prose.\u00a0 A beautiful Modern Library Edition from 1952.\u00a0 I think this is one of the most impressive books I have ever read.<\/p>\n

    When the Women Come Out to Dance\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

    Re-ordered this in Paperback but had the feeling I\u2019d read it already.\u00a0 Indeed in 2002.\u00a0 And even more recently Fire In The Hole<\/strong> (this January) the short story that starts the series Justified.\u00a0 Interestingly I\u2019m working on an old novel from 2002 where I wrote this:<\/p>\n

    You know the feeling?\u00a0 You\u2019re half way through an Elmore Leonard and you think wait, I know exactly what\u2019s going to happen now, I must have read this already<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No disrespect to Elmore, whom I adore, but sometimes publishers change the titles: The Big Heist<\/em> previously published as Detroit Snatch.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0 It can be very confusing. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

    February<\/h1>\n

    The Shipwrecked\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

    First published in 1935 as England Made Me.\u00a0 <\/em>A seedy tale of a no good brother and his too-loving sister attempting to help him with Krogh the millionaire in Stockholm.\u00a0 Ends in a seedy death.\u00a0 Nice moments of writing.\u00a0 I apparently read it in 2006 under the other title, but left no notes.\u00a0 Only for the Greene fan probably.<\/p>\n

    For The Love of Vinyl\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Storm Thorgerson & Aubrey Powell.<\/h2>\n

    Co-written by my co-Director of What About Dick<\/em>, his co-story of his co-work in the great album art of Hipgnosis.\u00a0 Lavishly illustrated classic album covers (Pink Floyd and co) with tales from the front line.\u00a0 Aubrey is witty and honest and wise.\u00a0 A lovely book.\u00a0\u00a0 Contains my favourite summation:<\/p>\n

    There are five stages to a project<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Excitement and Euphoria<\/li>\n
    2. Disenchantment<\/li>\n
    3. The Search for the Guilty<\/li>\n
    4. Punishment of the Innocent<\/li>\n
    5. Distinction for the Uninvolved.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      That says it all.<\/p>\n

      Nice Weather\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Frederick Seidel<\/h2>\n

      Book of poems gifted by Dylan Moran\u2013 most of which I enjoyed.<\/p>\n

      Goodbye Columbus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

      I gave it a re-read.\u00a0 To me it\u2019s only a pointer towards what he can achieve.\u00a0 The writing is superb, but I got a little tired of it.<\/p>\n

      Telegraph Avenue\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Chabon<\/h2>\n

      I confess I had a bit of trouble with this one.\u00a0 I love him and his writing but to me the writing became very dense and some parts I had to read two or three times to see what was going on.\u00a0 This seems to defy a couple of the basic Elmore Leonard rules:\u00a0 \u201cTry and leave out the parts that readers skip\u201d and the most important \u201cIf it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.\u201d<\/p>\n

      10 Rules of Writing\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

      I picked up a lovely illustrated edition of this at Iliad.\u00a0 Some of the advice here should be illuminated and hung on the wall of all writers rooms.\u00a0 Many offenders, including a Graham Greene I picked up but put down because it broke one of his rules: \u201cNever open a book with weather.\u201d<\/p>\n

      Fifty-two Pickup\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

      Found a nice UK first edition of this, (1974) with a signed envelope from him, in a secret new treasure trove bookstore I won\u2019t be sharing with you.\u00a0\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t resist re-reading this.\u00a0 The tale of the manufacturer who resists blackmail and revenges himself on the perpetrators.\u00a0 Classic tale.<\/p>\n

      Success\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/h2>\n

      I picked up a signed first edition at the Santa Monica Book Fair.\u00a0 Not cheaply, but happily, for this is a wonderful novel.\u00a0 I had a lot to say about it, but forgot to write it down..\u00a0\u00a0 Ah, memory.\u00a0 Anyway I highly recommend it.<\/p>\n

      Oddly and sadly I picked it up again and was sucked into it by its bravura opening, before the familiar feeling of maybe I just read this, came over me.\u00a0 (May 2013)<\/p>\n

      The Moon Is Down\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Steinbeck<\/h2>\n

      I am now officially in love with Steinbeck.\u00a0 I can\u2019t believe I never read him before.\u00a0 But I am thrilled I didn\u2019t because I have a lot to look forward to.\u00a0\u00a0 This delightful 1942 first edition I picked up is an elegant tale about invasion, war, and what happens to people who wage it.\u00a0 He is so simple and so precise, so sparse and yet paints characters so well.<\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

      January<\/h1>\n

      Of Mice and Men\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Steinbeck<\/h2>\n

      An exquisite novella.\u00a0 I can\u2019t believe I haven\u2019t read it before.\u00a0 A tale of two itinerant workers with an unlikely friendship.\u00a0\u00a0 Geoff the more normal hobo, travels with a tall, powerful but mentally underdeveloped friend from his village.\u00a0 The story is simply what happens when they apply for a new job, where the boss\u2019 son is a heel and married to a light lady. Two crucial scenes parallel the plot, the euthanasia of the old man\u2019s dog, and the eventual more potent euthanasia.\u00a0 Stark but exquisitely told.\u00a0\u00a0 I found a nice old copy from a lending library, with yellowing pages, and almost as old as me, from June 1943, which added to the pleasure of reading this classic.<\/p>\n

      You Only Live Twice\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian Fleming<\/h2>\n

      I found a 1964 First Edition for 12 bucks and even I know that\u2019s a foolish price for a Fleming, most of which go for at least five figures, so thought I\u2019d give Fleming another chance.\u00a0 My point of comparison was Conan Doyle, a popular master of\u00a0 best-selling fiction, but Fleming is far inferior.\u00a0\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t write well at all.\u00a0 He seems almost tired of his task at times.\u00a0 He labours at scene description, but the plot shifts enough I suppose, and there are plenty of breasts and buttocks, although the sex scenes are indicated rather more by dots and chapter ends than copulatory descriptions.\u00a0 In fact it\u2019s perfect cinematographic writing.\u00a0 Just enough to suggest what will be eventually made explicit by the camera.\u00a0\u00a0 And not written well enough to tax Producer\u2019s intelligence.\u00a0 He is at his best at fast paced action, which is essentially Bond.<\/p>\n

      Anna Karenina\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Leo Tolstoy<\/h2>\n

      I have kept on with my pleasant self-imposed tax of reading Anna Karenina.\u00a0 After the excitement of the horse race and Vronsky\u2019s fall, and the proud acceptance of her love and her fate when Anna informs her husband of their love,\u00a0 the central section of the book is about the less interesting love of Levin for the now suffering Kitty, which as the Intro helpfully explains, is more about Tolstoy himself.\u00a0\u00a0 But with the eponymous heroine missing the book is less gripping, and we wait impatiently for the return of the now off-stage adulterous pair.<\/p>\n

      Hollywood Station\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Wambaugh<\/h2>\n

      Another highly entertaining novel of the folks at the Hollywood Precinct.\u00a0 Highly readable, hugely enjoyable, very easy to read, Wambaugh is very funny.\u00a0\u00a0 His Russian cop Viktor is a hoot of modern Malapropisms.\u00a0 But his novels are also true and touching. Found this in a second hand store and went back to pick up some more by him, and a few Elmore Leonard First Editions.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Working The Room\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeff Dyer<\/h2>\n

      Essays on writers and writers and Jeff Dyer.\u00a0 Always interesting.<\/p>\n

      The Life of\u00a0 Brian \/\u00a0 Jesus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Doyle<\/h2>\n

      Python memories of filming by Julian Doyle the seventh, eighth and ninth Python.<\/p>\n

      The Boyfriend\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

      Highly readable and suspenseful as usual.\u00a0 You can\u2019t put him down.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to give away the plot, as this book isn\u2019t published until March and I am lucky enough to get a pre-publication copy, but it features Jack Till hunting a dysfunctional young hit man with an unusual method of hiding his tracks\u2026.<\/p>\n

      Fire in The Hole\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

      Collection of excellent short stories by the master.\u00a0 He seems to be as intense and as in depth about characters in the short format as the longer.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      And I never even got to the middle of Middle March and it\u2019s only middle February\u2026.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      2012<\/p>\n

      Ctrl-Alt- 1-2-3<\/p>\n

      December<\/h1>\n

      Christmas Gift List<\/h2>\n

      Ancient Light\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Banville<\/h3>\n

      The Angry Buddhist\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Seth Greenland<\/h3>\n

      Truth in Advertising \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Kenney<\/h3>\n

      Lionel Asbo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/h3>\n

      Waiting for Sunrise\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd<\/h3>\n

      A Hologram for the King\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dave Eggers<\/h3>\n

      Bullet Park\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Cheever<\/h3>\n

      Raylon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h3>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Plus one CD<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Long Wave\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeff Lynne<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Shining City\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Seth Greenland<\/h2>\n

      Thought I\u2019d try another since I so enjoyed the other one I read.\u00a0 I gave that as one of my Favourite Books of the Year for Christmas presents: and I know you\u2019ll want to know so my list is above.<\/p>\n

      The Bookshop\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penelope Fitzgerald.<\/h2>\n

      Delicately and exquisitely written this book is disappointing in its conclusion.\u00a0 We are set up to expect the routing of hypocrisy.\u00a0 The inexhaustible horror that is Mrs Gamart is surely going to get her come-uppance.\u00a0 We have read our Dickens.\u00a0 Virtue is rewarded, hypocrisy exposed and the wicked punished.\u00a0 Bravery brings its own reward, kindness must triumph, goodness will survive.\u00a0 But no such thing.\u00a0 The genteel horror of Middle Class life is allowed to succeed and poor Mrs Green slinks off to London having lost her bookshop and her house.\u00a0 Such a pity.\u00a0 Nothing makes us feel better than a book that punishes the wicked for their greed and grabbing.\u00a0 For shame.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Fiction means.<\/p>\n

      Anna Karenin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 by Leo Tolstoy,\u00a0 translated by Louise &Aylmer Maude<\/h2>\n

      A beautiful Kindle edition with pictures and a fine biography of Tolstoy.\u00a0 I found this, the correct Nabokov approved translation, and set off happily into the world of mother Russia.<\/p>\n

      Lectures on Russian Literature\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Vladimir Nabokov<\/h2>\n

      Tolstoy:\u00a0\u00a0 Anna Karenin.\u00a0\u00a0 Superb lecture by Nabokov on this, almost his favourite, novel, which he compares and contrasts with Madame Bovary, as both are about adultery and suicidal wives.\u00a0 Inspired by the brilliant Stoppard script of the wonderful Joe Wright film, I am intending to read the book again soon.\u00a0 I see I have downloaded it to my i-Pad but I see also that it is in the Constance Garnett translation of which VN so disapproves.\u00a0 So I must search for another.<\/p>\n

      Middlemarch\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 George Eliot<\/h2>\n

      Before I went to London I had been reading Middlemarch, and almost took it with me, but it seemed a little pretentious for British Airways. I would have had no hesitation on Virgin where it would look like a normal outr\u00e9 act, but I felt constrained to be seen reading it on BA, because there are occasionally real readers on BA, who, like me, never switch on the video choices. So I took the Amis Biography instead.\u00a0 Now I pick it up again, and I haven\u2019t read it since University Days in Cambridge.\u00a0 I read more.\u00a0 The prose is refreshing.\u00a0 Two young ladies, whom I respect as serious readers, both cited this as their all-time favourite novel, which is a weighty matter, but I wonder from the subject so far, whether this isn\u2019t a Female Read<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 I think there are such things as gender preference novels.\u00a0\u00a0 We don\u2019t all come with the same bag of tricks.\u00a0 And after all whole sections of Bookshops are now segregated off into Gay Novels and Black Novels. I hate all that intellectual apartheid.\u00a0 There are only Good Books and Bad Books.\u00a0 Anyway I think I\u2019ll persist in reading it alongside things like the new Bruce Wagner because the gap between intellectual worlds is so vast, and it\u2019s good to remind ourselves that nothing is everything<\/em>.<\/p>\n

      The Daylight Gate \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeanette Winterson<\/h2>\n

      Set in the touchy-burny era of James 1st<\/sup>, shortly after the Gunpowder plot, when Lancashire was the witches capital of England, at least according to the weird superstitious Scottish twat known as James 6.th<\/sup>\u00a0\u00a0 Nicely written, mercifully brief novel.\u00a0 Hatred of women masquerading as real science, determining who are \u201cwitches\u201d envy and corruption. We Will Rack You!<\/em><\/p>\n

      Death Star\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bruce Wagner<\/h2>\n

      Very hard to come back to the current US from Conan Doyle and pick up this polemical, cruel, almost Rabelasian blast at contemporary celebrity life.\u00a0 I like Bruce Wagner very much but this was too much for me.\u00a0 Having read three quarters of the novel within 24 hours I had to put it down and seek a change.\u00a0 Reality, porn and the interior life of Michael Douglas, I mean, are we to take any of this seriously?\u00a0 I suppose yes if you are American, but I turned for relief to Scott Fitzgerald\u2026\u00a0 I\u2019ll come back to it.\u00a0 But is that America really?<\/p>\n

      All The Sad Young Men\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Scott Fitzgerald<\/h2>\n

      Nice 1926 First Edition of short stories, some familiar \u201cThe Rich Boy\u201d for its careful observation of the wealthy man boy who fails to be successful in his own life, the very funny Rags and The Prnce of Wles, <\/em>\u00a0which is almost lyrical in its writing, I mean really lyrics, and seems almost like a musical, or a comic movie.<\/p>\n

      The Hound of The Baskervilles & The Valley of Fear\u00a0\u00a0 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle<\/h2>\n

      I love the little Collectors Library editions for travel, and this one really packs a punch.\u00a0 It\u2019s many years since I read Conan Doyle and I enjoyed both of these major novels.\u00a0 The Gift of Fear is uniquely constructed, seemingly arising out of the solution (by Holmes) of a murder in the first part, and spinning backwards in time to the coal fields of Pennsylvania.\u00a0 I know of no writer who delivers surprise so well.\u00a0 He is almost a dramatist in this.<\/p>\n

      The Gate of Angels\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penelope Fitzgerald<\/h2>\n

      Julian Barnes re-ignited my interest in her.\u00a0 Hatchards was out of the ones he loved the most but I very much enjoyed this romantic tale set in a Cambridge College in 1912. His recommended ones are:\u00a0 The Beginning of Spring, and The Blue Flower.\u00a0 Thanks to my reading list I see I have read rather a lot of her novels, some of which I loved and some of which I didn\u2019t.\u00a0 I\u2019ll have to give them another go.<\/p>\n

      Through The Window\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Barnes<\/h2>\n

      Seventeen Essays and One Short story.\u00a0 About writers and writing, the French, translating, (particularly Madame Bovary), Orwell, Houellebecq,\u00a0 and a whole slew of subjects he is never less than interesting about.\u00a0 He made me race straight out and buy Penelope Fitzgerald.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      \u201cNovels are like cities: some are organised and laid out with the colour-coded clarity of public transport maps, with each chapter marking a progress from one station to the next, until all the characters have been successfully carried to their thematic terminus.\u00a0 Others, the subtler, wiser ones, offer no such immediately readable route maps.\u00a0 Instead of a journey through the city, they throw you into the city itself, and life itself: you are expected to find your own way \u2026 they stray, they pause, they lollop, as life does , except with a greater purpose and hidden structure.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      November<\/h1>\n

      Martin Amis The Biography\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Bradford<\/h2>\n

      I took this as a travel book to London, and of course got interrupted and side tracked and jet lagged and random.\u00a0\u00a0 I was enjoying it and will pick it up later.<\/p>\n

      A Short Autobiography\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald<\/h2>\n

      A compilation of short autobiographical pieces<\/p>\n

      The Spy Who Loved Me\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian Fleming<\/h2>\n

      My first ever James Bond.\u00a0 A weird tale this one, quite nicely written in the first person by a young Canadian girl, who is in a cabin motel in the woods, and almost half the book is taken up with her young life story from girlhood in Quebec to London and the two men what done her wrong, one an English twit, and one a German co-worker.\u00a0 What\u2019s odd is that the story doesn\u2019t kick in till he has gone into all this, and then two thugs turn up and she is in peril and then, almost as if by magic, James Bond turns up.\u00a0 What are the odds?\u00a0\u00a0 Some girls have all the luck. \u00a0But Fleming handles the subsequent battle well. I guess that\u2019s his strength.<\/p>\n

      Don\u2019t Stop The Carnival\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Herman Wouk<\/h2>\n

      Paperman, a Jew from Broadway (so described) arrives on an idyllic Caribbean island with the intention of buying a run-down resort.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s the fifties. He meets a married femme fatale, learns to dance to the steel band and is accompanied by a frightful huge man called Atlas.<\/p>\n

      Sweet Tooth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian McEwan<\/h2>\n

      A clever and very quick read about a Cambridge blonde literally seduced into the secret world of MI5, and her amours which lead to her involving herself with a writer whom she is to arrange to sponsor secretly, and his revenge once that secret is leaked by an envious co-worker.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Finely done yarn with a very smart ending one doesn\u2019t see coming.<\/p>\n

      A Theft\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saul Bellow<\/h2>\n

      A New York intrigue, not quite intriguing enough.\u00a0 Nothing wrong, just not particularly engaging.\u00a0 A NY socialite and her constant amour but never married friend who gives her a ring which she first loses, then recovers and then finds it stolen by a nanny.<\/p>\n

      A Possible Life\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sebastian Faulks<\/h2>\n

      Very disappointing.\u00a0 Badly written.\u00a0 It began to read like the outline of a book.\u00a0 I abandoned ship.<\/p>\n

      Mortality\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Hitchens<\/h2>\n

      This is a painful book.\u00a0 Painful because we know how it is going to end.\u00a0 Mortality isn\u2019t going to have a happy third act.\u00a0 Painful because it is painful to read of the pain that accompanies the end.\u00a0 Particularly with the Big C, and the patience with which people put up with bombarding radiation into their bodies.\u00a0 And most painful because we can have no more Hitchens.\u00a0 Even the sad eyes and lugubrious expression of the balding victim on the cover is painful.\u00a0 And yet he doesn\u2019t let us down.\u00a0 He looks unrelentingly at his own condition and tells us what it is like, and what it looks like and what it feels like.\u00a0 Some things are just too painful.<\/p>\n

      The Enchanter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Vladimir Nabokov<\/h2>\n

      The early short novel written in Russian in Paris which was the first glimmering of Lolita. <\/em>\u00a0Even in translation (by his son) he is unable to write badly.\u00a0 Here the predator is discovered by his would-be child mistress masturbating and races out to commit suicide.\u00a0 The eventual novel is far more daring.<\/p>\n

      Back To Blood\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Wolfe<\/h2>\n

      He is very bad.\u00a0 SPLAT.\u00a0 From the naff photograph SNAP of him in his silly dated clothes<\/em> to his inability PAFF to write anything without sounding like a fifteen year old WOW on acid I hated every inch of this. TOSS.<\/p>\n

      October<\/h1>\n

      Joseph Anton\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Salman Rushdie<\/h2>\n

      I enjoyed Salman\u2019s memoirs of The Fatwa.\u00a0 Ten years of self-imprisonment guarded by Special Branch and abused by British newspapers.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s a fine and revealing memoir.\u00a0 I think it would be twice as good if it were half as long, but this was the whole experience he went through.\u00a0 I even went to his wedding with Padma Lakshmi. I don\u2019t think any of us expected it to last.<\/p>\n

      The Snowman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jo Nesbo<\/h2>\n

      A friendly Norwegian journalist brought me this to read.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m not a great fan of the serial killer genre although I did enjoy the Larsen Trilogy, mainly because of the wonderful eccentricity of the eponymous tattooed lady.\u00a0 This one I was enjoying when the most gruesome and creepy murder of an innocent female turned my stomach and I bailed.\u00a0 I can\u2019t even get into Dexter.\u00a0 I find violence against the female insupportable as entertainment.<\/p>\n

      Bandits\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

      Found a first edition in Earthling.\u00a0 A weird one, about an ex Nun and an attempt to heist Contra money off a murderous Nicaraguan Colonel.\u00a0\u00a0 Something of a fairy story set in New Orleans.\u00a0 Not his best, but he is never ever dull.\u00a0 And yes I just checked and found it in my reading diary from May to June in 1999.<\/p>\n

      Dirty Linen & New-Found-Land\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Stoppard<\/h2>\n

      Two early plays by the Number One.<\/p>\n

      A Doll\u2019s House\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Henrik Ibsen<\/h2>\n

      A \u201cnew\u201d version by Christopher Hampton, well actually from Broadway in 1972.\u00a0 And yes of course I was just in Norway.\u00a0 They showed me round the National Theatre.\u00a0 Thought it was about time I checked in with old Henrik.\u00a0 His plays of ideas seem more fun that Shaw.\u00a0 Need to check the last line in the old translation.\u00a0 About the little wife, kept in a virtual prison by her condescending husband, and how Nora grew up and learned to love herself.<\/p>\n

      The Whispering Muse\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sjon<\/h2>\n

      An odd fish.\u00a0 An Icelandic novel.\u00a0\u00a0 The narrator, a self-important nobody, of excruciating behaviour, lectures on the Importance of Cod to the development of the superiority of the Scandinavian.\u00a0 They go on some sort\u00a0 of voyage where the First Mate retells the legend of the golden fleece.\u00a0\u00a0 Small gestures, tiny ironies, occasionally indelicacies, this will delight one in a hundred, but that one will be utterly delighted.<\/p>\n

      Enter Laughing\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 by Joseph Stein<\/h2>\n

      The play adapted from Carl Reiner\u2019s novel.\u00a0\u00a0 Later it became a movie, and I think a funny one as I recall.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      September<\/h1>\n

      Zoo Time\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Howard Jacobson<\/h2>\n

      Again I\u2019m disappointed, and yet I love him.\u00a0 His book starts with ridiculing female reactions to his books but within a few chapters you are feeling sympathetic to their views.\u00a0 Must he go on and on about the death of the novel when he himself is killing it?\u00a0 There are many hard truths about the failure of the novel and the futility of the Northern writer moving to London and then writing about the decline of the novel.\u00a0 But he keeps saying he has nothing to say but says it anyway.\u00a0 Irony?\u00a0 Of course.\u00a0 Wearying?\u00a0 Eventually. If you keep destroying our faith in what you are doing we may be tempted to take you at your word.\u00a0 He is one of our funniest writers.\u00a0 His essays are sublime.\u00a0 Is this all that is left after you have been Prized, praised and rewarded.\u00a0 Come on Howard.\u00a0 Bet you\u2019re a Man City supporter.<\/p>\n

      The Beautiful and The Damned\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald<\/h2>\n

      A damned beautiful novel.\u00a0\u00a0 About him and Zelda, the falling in love, the drifting apart, the drinks, the lack of purpose.\u00a0 Very fine.\u00a0\u00a0 His writing seems to look even better with distance.\u00a0\u00a0 Here he has written the falling out of love<\/em>, which is so hard to write.\u00a0\u00a0 Now my second favourite Fitzgerald.\u00a0\u00a0 The detail of his prose is fascinating and wonderful.<\/p>\n

      Vengeance\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Banville as Benjamin Black<\/h2>\n

      John Banville isn\u2019t only a good novelist, he is two good novelists.\u00a0 Here is another highly readable (the fifth) in his Quirke Dublin series.\u00a0 A mystery.\u00a0\u00a0 And a mystery how he finds the time to write these books as well as his more enduring ones.<\/p>\n

      At Home\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bill Bryson<\/h2>\n

      Described as a short history of Private Life, in fact it is a bit longer than that.\u00a0\u00a0 A full length history of his own Rectory home in Norfolk, it delves into the history of so much that we take for granted.\u00a0\u00a0 Dining, sleeping, eating, crapping: each function of humanity has had its evolution from our animal state.\u00a0 So a fascinating view of our homes, interspersed with excellent tales of the man who built the Crystal Palace,\u00a0 Jefferson\u2019s lifelong attempt to build Montecito and many other fascinating stories.<\/p>\n

      Charles Dickens\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Simon Callow<\/h2>\n

      I was enjoying this but was forced to abandon my copy in London by the constraints of travel baggage. He loves his Dickens and his actors approach to this great author means he sees and feels the human being behind the novelist.\u00a0 One feels that Callow himself has suffered and empathises with this most humane and dramatical of novelists.<\/p>\n

      The Lady in the Tower\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alison Weir<\/h2>\n

      A wonderful book.\u00a0 I sometimes wish though that she would be edited because she writes history (story) so well, but occasionally bogs down into historical detail.\u00a0 Particularly research questions, maybe this, maybe that.\u00a0 Of course that\u2019s history but we want narrative.\u00a0 A bit of blue pencil work would help a lot, but she is a serious historian of course and would hate that.\u00a0\u00a0 By concentrating on the fall of Anne Boleyn we see the nightmare side to the Tudors, the savagery and the falling from grace, in this coup d\u2019\u00e9tat engineered by the unlikeable Thomas Cromwell.<\/p>\n

      The Lower River\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Theroux<\/h2>\n

      Started really well, but once this ex-African Peace Corps hand returns to the idyllic land where he had such a seminal experience growing and helping the villagers, it grew into some kind of Evelyn Waugh story where the white man is trapped by resourceful natives, and I found it less interesting.\u00a0 I liked his observation that Africa like the rest of us, has grown cynical and exploitive.\u00a0\u00a0 More re-writing please.<\/p>\n

      The Masque of Africa\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 V. S. Naipaul<\/h2>\n

      I also swiftly tired of this.\u00a0 Again it\u2019s a summer orphan, staying on the shelves for another year, crying out forlornly, finish me.<\/p>\n

      While Mortals Sleep\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kurt Vonnegut<\/h2>\n

      Another summer orphan.\u00a0\u00a0 Described as Unpublished Short Stories, sometimes there\u2019s a good reason not to publish things. Of course once you\u2019re dead nothing can prevent Greedy Bastard Publishers laying hold of your left overs.\u00a0\u00a0 Not that bad, but also not compelling, which is a rare thing to say about the wonderful Vonnegut.<\/p>\n

      Sydney\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jan Morris<\/h2>\n

      Civilised company for a modern and historical ramble through the streets and waterways of this great city.\u00a0\u00a0 The problem is that this is written in the 90\u2019s and Sydney (like London) is evolving so very quickly that things have changed quite a bit since then.\u00a0 Worth a dip.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Summer Reading<\/h1>\n

      June thru August<\/h1>\n

      The Borgias\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Hibbert<\/h2>\n

      Light reading but interesting history of the Sixteenth Century Sopranos.\u00a0 Clears out a few facts from fictions about this Spanish family who took the Vatican and then half Italy, helped and witnessed (a bit) by Machiavelli.\u00a0 I became convinced that Lucrezia was much maligned, that the celebrated incest with her father was indeed just black propaganda from their enemies the Sforzas, that Cesare was mentally ill and a thug, (he murders his sister\u2019s husband) that Pope Alexander VI (father Borgia), was quite interesting, that the Vatican was better when they shagged girls, that with Alexander and Julius quite a lot of really great art was commissioned (Michelangelo for example) and that the whole Medieval Catholic con job that made them so wealthy (the sale of forgiveness for your sins) was so easy to see through it\u2019s amazing the Reformation didn\u2019t start sooner.<\/p>\n

      Heartburn\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nora Effron<\/h2>\n

      From the late lamented, superbly talented, hilarious Nora Effron, this remains a brilliant book.\u00a0 First published in 1983, it was an immediate smash because it is hilarious.\u00a0 I defy anyone to read the first chapter and not laugh.\u00a0 But it lasts, because like all great comedy it is based in the tragic.\u00a0\u00a0 The protagonist is a professional cook, (the book was ground-breaking for including real recipes) a New Yorker who is betrayed in Washington by her famous husband writer, no prizes for identifying Nora\u2019s second husband Carl Bernstein.\u00a0\u00a0 She is seven months pregnant with her second child, when she discovers he is having an affair with an Embassy wife, and the book is simply her attempts to come to grips with this betrayal by her stud Jewish prince, fleeing back to New York, her Group, and her relatives, all of whom are nuts.\u00a0 The book is both a lament and a wonderful revenge.\u00a0\u00a0 She turns tears into laughter,\u00a0 healthy, painful and very difficult.\u00a0\u00a0 She does this effortlessly.\u00a0\u00a0 So lightly written, and so deftly done, this is the revenge novel of all time, and was turned into a movie by Mike Nichols.\u00a0\u00a0 The book has sold continuously and has even got better because in 2004 Nora wrote a short and wonderful preface, nailing her ex, and particularly the Jays, for how they had behaved in the wake of the book\u2019s success, hilariously, as if they<\/em> had been betrayed.\u00a0\u00a0 This is the sugar plum on the cake.\u00a0\u00a0 Distance has increased the comedy and pomposity of the self- justifying betrayers, and the colluding husband (Anthony Jay) who feel aggrieved that she betrayed them<\/em>.\u00a0 Great stuff.\u00a0\u00a0 A kind of Jewish Vanity Fair meets Jane Austen that has you cheering in your seat for all betrayed women.\u00a0\u00a0 She is very, very good on men.\u00a0 And never unjustly.\u00a0 A superb lady, great company and very gifted, I was lucky to have spent even a little time with her, often in Vegas where she was, unexpectedly, a devoted and excellent craps player.\u00a0\u00a0 This book has lasted, and will last.\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t tried it, do.<\/p>\n

      Ancient Light \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Banville.<\/h2>\n

      Surely the Mann Booker winner right here, but I have said that sort of thing before only to gasp later with surprise, not even nominated<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is a very brilliant book, brilliant in luminescent language, brilliant in conception, brilliant as the stars, whose ancient light creates us, and finally contains us. Sparkling with metaphor, coruscating with words, only a great poet could have written such a work, a memento mori, to the living, to the dead, to the lost worlds of love.\u00a0\u00a0 It is literally about light and death.\u00a0\u00a0 A vast prose poem, written in measured sentences that seem almost in meter, about the memory of first love, about loss, about grief, and about life itself, this strange ineluctable progress of being towards non being,\u00a0 about what we are when we are not and how only memory keeps us alive in the minds of others, and how inconstant memory itself is, until we too slough off our selves and pass into the shade, into the darkness of non being.\u00a0 A great non Catholic novel, the complete antidote to the seedy love stories of Graham Greene,\u00a0 here there is no God, no Daddy to comfort us and wipe us down and forgive us our trespasses, there is only the differing views of others, the tiny points of light perceived only by the individual, that distinguishes our viewpoint from another\u2019s.\u00a0 The tale told by an actor (to be or not) who himself cannot grasp the nature of himself, and whose occluded view of reality has obscured even his own life from his own memory.\u00a0 The fifteen year old and his shameful love affair with his best friend\u2019s mother, the anguish of a father for a dead child, about grief and loss, about recreating life on film and above all about metaphor, so many great and fresh perceptions (lion yellow, filming is like a nativity scene) every line is laden with ore, demands to be re-read and savoured.\u00a0 Oh yes thank you.<\/p>\n

      The House of Rumour\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jake Arnott<\/h2>\n

      A most disappointing novel from a fine writer who seems to have lost his way here, with a series of interlocking stories involving improbable figures such as L. Ron Hubbard and Rudolph Hess and managing to spark almost no interest from them.\u00a0\u00a0 It has joined my pile of orphan books, to await another time, and another look.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry because I think he is a really good author.<\/p>\n

      L\u2019Etranger\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Albert Camus<\/h2>\n

      Started to read this in French, (Pretentious?\u00a0 Moi?) backstage at the Olympics as a very good way to avoid worrying about the upcoming show.\u00a0\u00a0 It worked too.\u00a0 His prose is so simple and basic that it is a really easy read.\u00a0 And a very fine novel.<\/p>\n

      Comedy Rules\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jonathan Lynn<\/h2>\n

      I very much enjoyed this book of my contemporary and old pal Johnny\u2019s reminiscences and observations on comedy because he does try and stick to the truth, which isn\u2019t always pretty.<\/p>\n

      He reveals how Rita upset Alan Bennet, and she certainly upset me, perhaps she makes a point of upsetting comedians her husband works with.\u00a0 Hard to tell.\u00a0\u00a0 She was pretty cow like to me on my opening night, but Johnny tells tales of Cambridge and Footlights and a brilliant career directing and on television.\u00a0\u00a0 I wish he had spent a little more time on his successes, Nuns on The Run<\/em> and My Cousin Vinny<\/em>, and rather less on the flops like Clue<\/em> and Bilko<\/em>, but perhaps it is in the nature of things that one wants to justify the things that didn\u2019t work.\u00a0\u00a0 Anyway a thoroughly entertaining book by a thoughtful and a clever man I have known since 1962.<\/p>\n

      The Truth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Palin<\/h2>\n

      I\u2019m not sure Michael would recognise the truth if it bit him on the bum, but he very kindly sent me his latest book, which I tried very hard to read and couldn\u2019t, so I gave it to Richard and he couldn\u2019t either.\u00a0 I wrote and told him it would be a tremendous best seller, which was right because when I got to England it was Number Five in the Fiction Top Ten, but the subject is so dull and he writes such bland prose, it\u2019s impossible to know what he had in mind.\u00a0 The title is ironic too as Michael\u2019s books seem to hide from the truth, well certainly his carefully edited diaries, which seem more like polishing his image than revealing the rather more interesting human being that hides underneath the nice man on the telly.<\/p>\n

      Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anna Quindlen<\/h2>\n

      This is very pale stuff, collected journalism really, the sort of thing agents suggest to publishers.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not for me.<\/p>\n

      The Lessons of History\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Will & Ariel Durant<\/h2>\n

      Fine short essays from the masters of history.\u00a0 Particularly good short essays reflecting various subjects and aspects of history.\u00a0 The two I most enjoyed were Government and History<\/em>, and War and History.\u00a0 <\/em>Excellent stuff.<\/p>\n

      Taking off Emily Dickinson\u2019s Clothes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Billy Collins<\/h2>\n

      I have been dipping, but it\u2019s a short swim.\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes poems that are easy to read are easy to write too.\u00a0\u00a0 I miss any kind of depth or insight, the sudden intake of breath you get when reading, for example Larkin, or Emily Dickinson, when a great truth is suddenly made apparent, which is one of the great delights of poetry.<\/p>\n

      Bring up the Bodies\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hilary Mantel<\/h2>\n

      I began to read the new Wolf Hall on the I-Pad a holiday cruise, but it really didn\u2019t grab me, rather like the old one.\u00a0 I’ll give it another go, but I rarely am seduced by historical fiction,\u00a0 perhaps because I find real history so fascinating, for example I\u2019m currently reading Alison Weir\u2019s \u201cThe Lady in The Tower\u201d which covers the same period, and the same man (Thomas Cromwell) but which is so much more fun.<\/p>\n

      The Angry Buddhist \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Seth Greenland<\/h2>\n

      I loved it and thought it a terrific read, \u00a0a particularly great holiday read, or Vacation, as you Yanks call them, probably because you take so few….\u00a0 From the brilliant opening line of the Prologue, the whole novel unfurls superbly\u2026\u201cEveryone knows that when a certain kind of single American female on a Mexican holiday drinks too much tequila she will get a tattoo.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A single woman and her married lover, a brief affair, sets up the future conflict which turns nicely deadly.\u00a0 Chapter One opens just as brilliantly.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIn the desert the sun is an anarchist.\u00a0 Molecules madly dance beneath the relentless glare.\u00a0\u00a0 Unity gives way to chaos.\u00a0\u00a0 And every day, people lose their minds.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This man can write.\u00a0 We are in Palm Springs, California.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But I won\u2019t spoil it.\u00a0\u00a0 Read it and enjoy.<\/p>\n

      July<\/h1>\n

      Truth In Advertising\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Kenney<\/h2>\n

      This is a very funny book.\u00a0 Made me laugh out loud.\u00a0 Genuinely, uproariously funny expose of the pretensions and bollocks of the advertising world, which kept me happily engaged.\u00a0 But underneath the hilarious and wonderful comedy he also wants to write a serious book, about a dead bullying father, and while forgiveness of a cruel parent, and honouring his unpleasant father\u2019s wishes to be buried at sea in Pearl Harbor provides him with a plot, we rather shamefully<\/p>\n

      just want more of the drop dead funny stuff about all the mad people who work in advertising and their side-splitting attempts to film a Snugglies diaper commercial in\u00a0 LA.\u00a0 It it seems to me particularly difficult to meld the two forms, or you have to be a far more serious writer.<\/p>\n

      It\u2019s as if Waugh tried to combine The Loved One <\/em>with Brideshead, <\/em>\u00a0the comedy kills the sentimental.\u00a0\u00a0 Most of the plot beats we do see coming, and his protagonist seems to be the only one in the book who hasn\u2019t noticed his love for Phoebe, so while we forgive him for not bringing the book home quicker, it cannot compare to a real novel. I have to reveal that he sent me the book for a comment, which I was happy to give.\u00a0 So one hundred per cent funny, and a big hit, but not a great book<\/p>\n

      Guns, Germs and Steel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jared Diamond<\/h2>\n

      I found the argument compelling, but repetitive.\u00a0\u00a0 An important book, and at its finest at the beginning where he argues the case for the reasons for the survival of Western culture, at the expense of other highly evolved human societies who could not cope with the first encounter with the heavily armed Europeans.<\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

      Inside Scientology\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Janet Reitman<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

      The Story of America\u2019s most Secretive Religion.Downloaded.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is a less than interesting tale.\u00a0 If anything an illustration of how easily mankind is misled, or the prevailing appeal of fascism. If a minor con man and bullshit artist like L. Ron Hubbard can get anyway with starting a religion so evidently stupid as scientology one wonders what hope there is for mankind.\u00a0 But then of course all religions require the willing consent of the deceived.\u00a0\u00a0 I personally believe in the separation of Church and planet…That these con men should be entitled to tax relief is shameful. The paranoid who are everywhere, are at the mercy of manipulatory idiots like this.\u00a0 It\u2019s a Miscavidge of Justice.\u00a0 A Cruise missal.<\/p>\n

      The Tiger\u2019s Wife\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tea Obreht<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

      I was gob smacked by this.\u00a0\u00a0 The extraordinarily confident prose, such maturity of thought and expression in one so young completely took me\u00a0 by surprise.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I know precisely where it left me though.\u00a0\u00a0 The simple tale took a sudden left turn into a narrative by someone else, with the story of the unkillable man, and I felt the whole air go out of the book.\u00a0 I persisted, but so did she, so though I intend to return and see what happens after that seismic shift, I have been in no hurry to do so.<\/h3>\n

      Incognito\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Eagleman<\/h2>\n

      Great opening chapters state his theme, the growth of consciousness of the real, and our perception of the Universe and how we are growing smaller and smaller as our knowledge expands beyond the stars and the galaxies to the very nature of the Universe itself.\u00a0\u00a0 Nice to be reading under the whirling summer Milky Way with the lyrics of the Galaxy Song on my mind, and my lovely task to provide new lyrics for Professor Brian Cox, a sequel to the original song, including the immense dimensions of the whole unlikely exploding thing in which we find ourselves.\u00a0 In 1981, when I began to write that song, the astronomical distances and speeds mentioned in the lyrics were all considered scientifically accurate, now, of course, we have had thirty years of expanding scientific research and observation and I have had to alter the words to correspond with our new estimate of the extreme distances in the Galaxy and our ever expanding Universe, not to mention the possibility of a multi-verse, not a day goes by without us getting smaller and smaller.\u00a0 So far from the medieval picture of us as at the centre of the heavens, with everything revolving around our fixed planet, we now find ourselves thrust ever farther from the enormity of the Universe, and now we know we are only at the extreme edge of a thing so immense that it is almost impossible to conceive. Here are some new \u201cfacts\u201d that I pulled out of David Eagelman\u2019s book about the brain:\u00a0 There are 500 million Galaxy groups, 10 billion large Galaxies, 100 billion dwarf Galaxies, 2,000 billion billion suns.\u00a0 The visible Universe is 15 billion light years across and may itself be just a small speck in the total Universe\u2026<\/p>\n

      Think of that on your way to the mall, and, of course, I bet you anything in thirty years you will have to update all these figures\u2026 although I alas will have to leave that task to you.<\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

      Lionel Asbo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

      Imagine the worst person in the world.\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis has written him.\u00a0 A nightmare character with no redeeming features.\u00a0 A man so vile you have to read his exploits behind your hands, as you avert your eyes from the worst violence in movies. Then Amis plays the gag.\u00a0\u00a0 He gives him all the money in the world.\u00a0 While inside prison he wins the lottery and becomes intensely rich.\u00a0 This is indubitably funny.\u00a0\u00a0 He gives Asbo a budding young intellectual nephew for a companion and surrogate son, stirs and it becomes an explosive brew.\u00a0 Not pleasant, but decidedly funny. Not so much Lucky Jim<\/em> as Lucky Bastard<\/em>.\u00a0 He has portrayed the worst sociopath since Stalin. This man is a Borderline and has no feelings for anyone at all.\u00a0 Of course in the end he is betrayed by his utter lack of feeling, \u201cwho let the dog\u2019s in?\u201d In his unspeakable cruelty to Marlon, his envious attempt to hurt the innocents who have found love and form a family reminded me of Dickens long before I realised Martin Amis was well ahead of me with his Carkery Lane and Speers Central.\u00a0 But why do the British press hate him so?\u00a0 Well partly because he subtitles this \u201cState of England\u201d and also perhaps because this portrait of an exploiter with no feelings is actually an intimate view of the Press itself, snarling with impotent rage.\u00a0 I am glad he has successfully escaped the country.\u00a0 It seems the only sensible way to avoid the Rottweiler\u2019s of Wapping.\u00a0 They savage his work apparently, though it\u2019s hard for me to believe that.\u00a0 They even savage his dentistry.\u00a0\u00a0 They eat their young.\u00a0 Must it become a land fit only for the mediocre?<\/p>\n

      Courtiers \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lucy Worsley.
      \n<\/em><\/strong>Most books end badly. I don’t mean their events, I mean their writing. It requires a great deal of stamina to finish a book, and many authors fall off towards the end.\u00a0 I found this as true of\u00a0 Mansfield Park as this book. \u00a0(Perhaps this thought comes from Aspects of the Novel<\/em> by E.M Forster?)
      \nI think pervasive use of editors by Americans writers helps prevent it more than their English equivalents.\u00a0 This is a mostly very interesting book about the first two Georges, their courts, their wives and their mistresses, with some delightful tales, and quite a bit of tattle.<\/p>\n

      The Wapshot Scandal\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Cheever<\/h2>\n

      I\u2019m sure I wrote something about my experience of reading this book in early summer, about my excitement, my anticipation, and my disappointment that this was not as good as other Cheevers,\u00a0 nor approaching the maturity of Bullet Park, and about my continually returning to pick up the tale, but if I did I cannot find the words, and must have recourse to Dave Eggers charming introduction.\u00a0\u00a0 Of course Eggers would love Cheever, as I believe does Michael Chabon, but then who does not, who could not?\u00a0 (Probably a lot of clod hopping best sellers)\u00a0\u00a0 So you must excuse me, that I cannot wholeheartedly recommend this tale, a sequel in the sense of recurring characters, and that I have lost my notes where I\u2019m sure I made many sensible and cogent observations, only to leave you with this pale wreath of memory.<\/p>\n

      Dial M for Murdoch\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Watson and Martin Hickman<\/h2>\n

      I\u2019ve also lost my notes on this brilliant book about the scoundrel Rupert Murdoch\u2019s empire and his cynical and self-important manipulation of the British Press, Police and Politicians.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The book is an eye opener, revealing just how sinister and deeply corrupting the whole phone tapping thing became.\u00a0 The News of the World<\/em> with their God given right to hound and bully people, was always a nasty rag: in the Fifties exposing sex amongst the middle classes and the endless naughty vicars who in those more innocent days had sex only with young women. Of course they hounded gays, but they were asking for it weren\u2019t they? Often they hounded people to death.\u00a0 Early on they discovered just how cheap it is to bribe policemen, Detective ranks particularly, and in the Sixties they happily collaborated with the Metropolitan Police busting pop stars for possessing grass and helping to plant drug evidence to ensure conviction for The Stones and some Beatles.\u00a0 With the coming of Murdoch the scene changed. Suddenly he had five newspapers and they could change Governments. \u201cPower tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely\u201d in the famous phrase of Baron Acton\u00b8 but I prefer the finer quote from Stanley Baldwin attacking Lord Beaverbrook and Lord Rothermere (themselves the leading press barons of his day) in a phrase suggested by his cousin Rudyard Kipling: \u201cWhat the proprietorship of these papers is aiming at is power, and power without responsibility \u2014 the prerogative of the harlot through the ages.\u201d<\/p>\n

      During the Seventies there were legendary tales of fearless News of the World<\/em> reporters sexually entrapping celebs and politicians in pubs and clubs and hotel rooms. I once watched two young ladies making out in the Gents at a London club, attempting to seduce a famous footballer friend of mine, who shall remain blameless, as he rolled his eyes and mentioned the name of the Publicist (Max Clifford) who was paying these girls to entrap anyone who wandered in for a quiet piss. How English is all this? Hypocritical. Devious. Yes, very English. The pursuit of unhappiness seems to be the watchword of the British Press, who are even more depressing than the English weather.\u00a0 Read this book and be very very concerned that the man who owns Fox News did this.<\/p>\n

      Arguably\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Hitchens<\/h2>\n

      Essays.\u00a0 With a pang I noticed that he was still alive and writing this, this time last year.\u00a0 Of course the great thing about writers is that they stay alive as long as there are readers\u2026.<\/p>\n

      I was intrigued by his essay on Lolita, in a review of Reading Lolita in Tehran, <\/em>\u00a0in which he rates it even higher than I do, and discusses it finely, and compatibly with my own views\u2026<\/p>\n

      The Lonely Hearts Club\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raul Nunez<\/h2>\n

      Do you have those books that you always pick up and start to read and then go, hang on I already read that.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I keep a reading list.\u00a0 But some, like this one, I remember that I bailed about the same time as I just did again.\u00a0 Nothing particularly wrong.\u00a0 Just ungrabbed I guess.\u00a0 Think it might have been a Mister B\u2019s which I picked up last year, and then picked up again this year!\u00a0 Well if I did I obviously didn\u2019t enter it, sometimes I don\u2019t if I don\u2019t get very far.\u00a0\u00a0 Sorry B keepers.<\/p>\n

      The Imperial German Dinner Service.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0David Hughes.<\/h2>\n

      In Henley at Jonkers, a very lovely Antiquarian bookshop in the High Street, just opposite the grave of Dusty Springfield, I picked up an old paperback edition of this David Hughes book.\u00a0 I knew him a little in Provence in the old days with my novelist friend Earl Thompson and I enjoyed his novels ( The Pork Butcher.)\u00a0 He was married to Mai Zetterling for nineteen years, and I may also have met him through Gerald Durrell with whom we socialized a little in the early seventies.\u00a0 In fact he wrote a memoir of Gerry which I have ordered through Alibris.\u00a0 He was our host when Python filmed one of the later Flying Circus series in Jersey, where he had a spectacular zoo and where we adopted a spectacled bear. I found the book itself engaging, and then less so.<\/p>\n

      Reading Jane Austen in Venice.<\/h1>\n

      Mansfield Park\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jane Austen<\/h2>\n

      Well actually I began reading this in California, because I was heading for Bath, and there is something wonderfully appropriate about reading Jane Austen in Bath, but I finished it in Venice, which is strangely inappropriate, Venetian society being almost the polar opposite of Jane Austen\u2019s Bath.\u00a0 Literature is attempting to reveal what it is like to be human at a certain period of time, and this novel certainly does that. It is a comedy of manners.\u00a0 In Jane Austen novels it is vitally important in society how people behave (correctly) and feel (appropriately) and act (not at all).\u00a0 These manners are imposed by society and real people often behave differently, hence the famous irony which is the gap between what is spoken and what is felt.\u00a0 Perception and reality.\u00a0\u00a0 Fanny Price, though poor, has correct instincts, she thinks and feels correctly, sees people for who and what they are, without standing up to them until pushed.\u00a0 She is the classic \u201cfish out of water\u201d adopted by, though not part of society and in the world around her people are estranged from their emotions.\u00a0 Indeed giving in to emotion is seen as very dangerous.\u00a0 When they begin to put on a play this gap is exposed, hence the brilliance of the scenes of the rehearsals at Mansfield Park, which is a thoroughly appropriate metaphor as they are permitted to act in a different, and less appropriate way.\u00a0 That is why the play is seen as dangerous, and \u201cacting\u201d inimical and dangerous to society.\u00a0 These scenes are the emotional heart of the book and provides the dramatic climax to the first half of the book with the return of the father from the West Indies, and his angry dismissal of the play.\u00a0 Seems to me that all that follows, when Fanny moves to Portsmouth, (Cinderella returns to her hovel) the heart goes out of the book, and, as Nabokov notes, the novel finally becomes epistolary where everything is revealed at second hand.\u00a0 Since we have been waiting for something dramatic to happen for several excruciating chapters it is deeply frustrating and surprising that a book ostensibly about acting, and acting inappropriately, should have so much drama happen entirely off stage.\u00a0\u00a0 In particular the revelation that Mr Crawford is a shit and Maria vain and foolish, is achieved by having the pair simply, and conveniently, and adulterously run away together off stage.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This violently dramatic conclusion which we learn about only through letters, leads to the inevitable denouement where Edmund realises he is meant for Fanny Price (duh). Since of all Jane Austen\u2019s heroines Fanny Price is the closest to the author\u2019s heart and mind as to be virtually an idealised self-portrait, one may speculate that Austen herself is the victim of unrequited love, which may account for the false feeling one gets about the enforced happy conclusion which was missing in her own life.\u00a0\u00a0 But with the great scenes of the play, this is still a half way great novel.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Waiting For Sunrise\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

      This theme of play acting and real behaviour is co-incidentally present in another excellent book I have just been reading: this new one from William Boyd.\u00a0 The theme of the book is the river of sex, which flows as strongly in London as in Vienna.\u00a0 The protagonist Lysander is not only an actor, he is also the son of a famous actor, with a Viennese mother.\u00a0 He is fleeing a fianc\u00e9e, the aptly named Blanche, as he is suffering from an unusual sexual problem, Anorgasmia, the inability to achieve orgasm,\u00a0 and he goes to Vienna in 1913 to take the talking cure from a disciple of Freud\u2019s, an Englishman like himself. Fortunately for him he is swiftly seduced by Hettie Bull, the English common law wife of a Bullish Austrian sculptor called Hoff, whom he meets at his shrinks and who insists he pose in the nude for her.\u00a0 When he submits and visits her a blatant seduction swiftly proves his condition is no longer a problem.\u00a0 His therapist suggests his own kind of cure, which is a re-programming therapy, reconfiguring in the mind a convincing version of what never happened,\u00a0 which in a way is what acting is all about.\u00a0\u00a0 And, for that matter, novel writing.\u00a0\u00a0 So we are somewhere between Stanislavski and Freud, with references to the new realism in sexual writing (Miss Julie) which Lysander is acting, as well as Angelo in Much Ado<\/em>, the most sexual of Shakespeare\u2019s plays.\u00a0 His mistress also appears naked on stage in scandalised Vienna in Andromeda and Perseus<\/em>.\u00a0 Other problems swiftly follow from the affair with his pretty mistress, which I am not going to spoil for you, for this is a fine book and you will like it.\u00a0 I find William Boyd writes the best sex scenes of any living novelist, and dead, for that matter.\u00a0\u00a0 He seems to get it exactly right, just the correct amount of quirkiness that drives our sex motors, without ever straying into mawkishness or pornography. The book itself turns into a pretty fair thriller, where Lysander becomes a kind of post-modern Richard Hannay, with shady encounters with espionage figures almost from the pages of John Le Carr\u00e9 .<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Howard’s End is on the Landing.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Susan Hill.<\/h2>\n

      If you like reading and you love books, and you must because otherwise why would you be here, then you will love this one.\u00a0 Almost exactly my contemporary, though she went to Kings London, where I might have gone for I was offered a place, she like me, encountered D. H. Forster and experienced the same thrill and total disbelief that he could be possibly alive. Like me she enjoyed meeting the insanely beautiful and slightly arrogant Bruce Chatwin, and like me her childhood love for reading has informed and enriched her life. This book is a trip through her own library, a delightful, and utterly memorable readers memoir, and she says many thoughtful, true, and eminently quotable things about the writers she met, and their books. For instance this on Dickens,<\/p>\n

      (the whole paragraph is quotable) “..his literary imagination was the greatest ever, his world of teeming life is as real as has ever been invented, his conscience, his passion for the underdog, the poor, the cheated, the humiliated are god-like.\u00a0 He created an array of varied, vibrant, living, breathing men and women and children that is breath-taking in its scope. His scenes are painted like those of an Old Master, in vivid colour and richness on huge canvasses.”<\/p>\n

      A quick flip through these pages makes you want to read and re-read almost everything she mentions.\u00a0 Enjoy it.<\/p>\n

      She made me slightly ashamed I had discarded Heart of the Matter<\/em> recently, but then I felt better when she confessed she couldn\u2019t stand Jane Austen. It reminds you that reading is not an exact science and that the Heisenberg principle applies, the position of the observer alters everything. (I apologise to scientists if I have this wrong. I have a very uncertain grasp of the uncertainty theory and sometimes confuse Pavlov\u2019s dogs with Schr\u00f6dinger\u2019s cat, but then you see, I am only a comedian and not a scientific vet.)<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      I picked this up in Toppings, which is another excellent bookshop in Bath, how exceedingly fortunate they are to have Mr B’s and Toppings and countless little second hand shops, including a great one down by the railway station whose name I have shamefully forgotten.\u00a0 When I tell people I come to Bath to buy books they look at me strangely, but it’s true.\u00a0 I ship them home in tons.\u00a0 Bath is the sort of place that makes me miss England, but the weather is wet enough to fill a battleship of bath-tubs, and that soggy deflated feeling of incessant rain in June, is what makes me glad I left.<\/p>\n

      The Enemy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Hitchens<\/h2>\n

      A short monograph on Bin Laden.\u00a0 A brief and brilliant polemic exposing the pathetic pretensions of this vain and foolish enemy of the people, responsible for so many deaths.\u00a0 A short discourse on evil.\u00a0 And as usual Hitchens is not afraid to call a spade a spade.\u00a0\u00a0 A Kindle Single, read Online on I Pad, indeed not much longer than an article.\u00a0 Here is the conclusion.\u00a0 \u201cThe war against superstition and the totalitarian mentality is an endless war.\u00a0 In protean forms, it is fought and refought in every country and every generation.\u00a0 In bin Ladenism we confront again the awful combination of the highly authoritarian personality with the chaotically nihilist and anarchic one\u2026\u2026But it is in this struggle that we develop the muscles and sinews that enable us to defend civilization, and the moral courage to name it as something worth fighting for.\u00a0\u00a0 As the cleansing ocean closes over bin Laden\u2019s carcass, may the earth lie lightly on the countless graves of those he sentenced without compunction to be burned alive or dismembered in the street.\u201d<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      May<\/h1>\n

      A Hologram For The King\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dave Eggers<\/h2>\n

      The extremely fine Dave Eggers sends me his latest novel.\u00a0 It is absolutely brilliant.\u00a0 It is so seemingly simple \u2013 an ageing failing consultant is sent to Saudi Arabia to negotiate a contract for a US high tech company, only to find in King Abdullah Economic City a baking hot empty space in an empty lot.\u00a0 During the endless frustrations of waiting to meet the King or at least his emissary, he remembers his failed business life, contemplates the state of society (qv), discovers a hidden world of booze and pills amongst the ex-pat community, undertakes surgery and falls for his doctor, and attempts to write to a letter to his daughter justifying her mother, his divorced wife, whom he hates.\u00a0 It is Kafka, Lost in Translation, Waiting for Godot, Death of a Salesman and, well, Dave Eggers.\u00a0 His writing is so clear, and effortless and his story telling so artful that we feel as much at a loss as Alan in this strange world.\u00a0 Yusef an amusing driver, who is fearful of assassination from a rich man who thinks he is having an affair with his wife, is also highly entertaining and gives him a fine Sancho Panza foil.<\/p>\n

      This is how he sums up the effect of a long neglected bill from Banana Republic and its effect on his credit rating: \u201cThe age of machines holding dominion over man had come.\u00a0 This was the downfall of a nation and the triumph of systems designed to thwart all human contact, human reason, personal discretion and decision making.\u201d<\/p>\n

      Wise and witty and funny and intensely readable.\u00a0 Order it now.<\/p>\n

      Madame Bovary\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gustave Flaubert<\/h2>\n

      I am fulfilling the ambition of a lifetime by finally reading this book in French. It\u2019s a very good way to appreciate the language of a novel.\u00a0 And Flaubert is a total master of language.\u00a0\u00a0 Reading is for me, just that.\u00a0 I want to read great sentences.\u00a0 It is as satisfactory as music.\u00a0\u00a0 I am quite impressed with my comprehension of his 19th<\/sup> century French, which is extremely fine, and far better than my fluent Franglais.\u00a0 What I do is read a bit of the translation first in English, and then plough into the French;\u00a0 on the I-Pad, so you can flick between the two.\u00a0 It\u2019s a very good way to do it, and as I speak the French out loud people assume I am insane, which is fine by me.\u00a0\u00a0 Or on an I Phone, which is not.\u00a0 It does improve my French comprehension and my French pronunciation and since I am headed for a spell in France this is a very good thing. <\/em>(pac\u00e9 Sellers and Yeatman.)<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Incidentally those who seek to read properly should be acquainted with two brilliant books by Nabokov: indispensable guides to the art of reading.\u00a0 And writing.\u00a0 Try reading one of the novels he discusses and then reading him.\u00a0 He illuminates what you have just enjoyed, adding to your pleasure and making you want to read the book again.\u00a0 Re-reading is one of the great joys of great books.\u00a0\u00a0 Nabokov says you should read a novel once through, just to understand what is going on, and then several times, as you would scan a painting, and the hidden meanings and echoes and shades then reveal themselves to your mind.<\/p>\n

      Lectures on Literature \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Vladimir Nabokov<\/h2>\n

      Covers Mansfield Park, Bleak House, Madame Bovary, Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hide, Swann\u2019s Way, The Metamorphosis and Ulysses.<\/p>\n

      Lectures on Russian Literature\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Vladimir Nabokov<\/h2>\n

      Covers Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Gorki, Tolstoy and Turgenev.<\/p>\n

      Rome\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Hughes<\/h2>\n

      I finished the Robert Hughes tome on Rome, which is really a history of Rome through the history of art.\u00a0 Since I know very little of either (after the Romans) it is a jolly good thing, and highly entertaining.\u00a0 It\u2019s a paean to the soul of Rome, which Hughes, the polymath, now believes after centuries has finally deserted it.\u00a0 He argues that the brutality of Mussolini has been inherited by the totally superficial world of his natural successor Berlusconi.\u00a0 It is also an occasional memoir of an art lover who first visited Rome in 1960 and bemoans the changes that have occurred.<\/p>\n

      Lolita\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Vladimir Nabokov<\/h2>\n
        \n
      1. First American Edition, with a facsimile dust jacket.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Depressed by seeing a screening of the awful 1962 Kubrick film, which was as bad as I remembered, and which I had to leave early because Peter Sellers was turning it into an audition piece for Dr. Strangelove<\/em>, I decided to clear my brain by re-reading the brilliance of Nabokov\u2019s prose poem to post paedophilia. (The love object is not pre-pubescent.)\u00a0 And what a brilliant novel it is.\u00a0\u00a0 By adding two years to the age of the nymphet to make it \u201cacceptable\u201d for Americans and by attempting to turn it into a \u201ccomedy\u201d they screwed the essential point, that it is a tragedy; that Humbert Humbert is as unable to avoid his fate as any Frankenstein monster.\u00a0 He is a monster, that is the point, but by recognising his own hopeless lust, and by defining for us its psychological roots in a pre-teenage love affair, the protagonist is able to reveal his weird condition, its very real effects on the hunter and his prey, and their weird collaborative dance.\u00a0 It is a confession, written by the monster who accepts his guilt, as much as he can no longer control it.\u00a0 This to the moment when she<\/em> seduces him<\/em> and he discovers she is not quite the innocent he believed.\u00a0 Thereafter the whole central journey of the book, where he entraps the poor girl, enslaves her to his will, and robs her of her childhood, the possibility of friends and any semblance of normality, let alone parental affection, is a long pathetic attempt to defend his crimes.\u00a0 He is a butterfly collector, killing what he adores. It is a murderer\u2019s view of his victim. All justification.\u00a0 Even corrupting Lolita further by rewarding her financially for his gratification, he still robs her of her earned rewards.\u00a0 At no point in his sexual delirium do we learn anything at all about her sexual feelings or responses.\u00a0 It is entirely through his own lust laden eyes.\u00a0 This is not an enchanting story.\u00a0 He even considers fathering a child, and even a grandchild, on her for his further delectation.\u00a0 This is Peter Pan with a vengeance.\u00a0 This is the diary of a madman, and Nabokov makes that quite clear.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Of the film, one might say the whole misguided thing was saved only by a fine performance from Shelley Winters as the poor victim\/wife\/mother Charlotte,\u00a0 or one might observe that Kubrick similarly screws up Arthur Schnitzler’s fine 1926 novella Traumnovelle<\/em> about anti-Semitism in Austria, by setting his movie adaptation Eyes Wide Closed<\/em> in a non-existent world of upstate New York, and making it both pointless and unbelievable.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>And here I might as well come out and state what I believe:\u00a0 Movies are not Art.\u00a0 Movies are entertainment.\u00a0 Art is made by individuals.\u00a0\u00a0 Movies are made by moguls, monsters and mobs.\u00a0 Think how impossible it would be to do a remake of Hamlet, or a remake of Bleak House.\u00a0\u00a0 You can remake the film<\/em> of course, many times, but that\u2019s my point:\u00a0 nobody would seriously attempt to rewrite Jane Austen.\u00a0 Films are of their time, they date as quickly as their stars fade from the scene, and as new technology evolves.\u00a0 Words remain the same.\u00a0 Just that we interpret them through our extraordinary brains.\u00a0\u00a0 Nothing against the movies, but they are a passive form, like television, whereas real art requires the individual response, the observer is as important as in Quantum theory.\u00a0 As long as I don\u2019t have to be in \u2018em I\u2019m happy enough to watch movies, but Art<\/em>??\u00a0 Take your Cahiers du Cinema<\/em> and shove it up your arse.\u00a0 As my late character Sid Gottleib said in an unproduced documentary I wrote in the eighties:\u00a0 Cinema is half Sin and half Enema.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        The trouble with reading a great book, in this case Lolita<\/em>,\u00a0 is that reading anything after it puts tremendous pressure on that author.\u00a0 And so to\u2026.<\/p>\n

        The Heart of the Matter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

        \u2026Which is a problem.\u00a0 This first edition 1948, picked up at Mystery Pier Bookshop, simply cannot follow Lolita.<\/em>\u00a0 The whole thing reeks of the insensical smell of Catholicism, which is fine if that particular superstition is your bag, but for the more enlightened of us what must we do?\u00a0\u00a0 Hamlet was a Catholic, in fact so were most of the Kings in his plays, but Shakespeare doesn\u2019t go rubbing our nose in it.\u00a0 OK he was living under a Protestant monarch, but you get my drift.\u00a0 Cheever was a Catholic and he screws almost everything but does he\u2026 (ok enough of this, if the Pope wants to get dressed up in The Wicked Witch slippers from the Wizard of Oz and exit an aeroplane dressed as a bride that\u2019s up to her, him, sorry. I mean bad enough having to start your life in the Nazi youth. No wonder Catholicism appeals to him\u2026NOW LOOK stop this anti-Catholic rant,\u00a0 this is supposed to be a book thing.\u00a0 Just remember you are an equal opportunity mocker of superstition.\u00a0 Time and place.\u00a0 Graham Greene.\u00a0 Rapidly sliding off my must-read list.\u00a0 Almost impossible to get Alec Guinness out of your mind too.\u00a0 I\u2019ll give it another bash but I found it a little dull\u2026. Picked it up again, still found it a little dull with even more Catholicism so I dumped it. Sorry. One Act of Contrition, One Hail Mary and a blowjob.<\/p>\n

        Pnin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Vladimir Nabokov<\/h2>\n

        I picked this up in Washington at Earthling along with another nice Cheever first edition.\u00a0 I must say I can\u2019t imagine how I haven\u2019t poured into Nabokov before.\u00a0 I just adore him.\u00a0 There is something magical in his writing, something poetical, he seems to be able to make you imagine the scene, living, breathing, and in full colour with sound.\u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0It\u2019s quite extraordinary, but then what the brain does with this odd jumbling of letters is very strange and wonderful.\u00a0 Our literacy marks us from the animals.\u00a0 Our brains are extraordinary.\u00a0\u00a0 And then there are Republicans\u2026.\u00a0 Sorry.\u00a0 I guess they read too.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m in a waspish mood.\u00a0 The anticipation of travel fills me with delight.\u00a0\u00a0 Sad to leave the dogs, but the open high road beckons, hey ho\u2026. Get on with it<\/em>.\u00a0 Nabokov is very funny, his irony always sharp.\u00a0 Pnin is a figure of fun for others but he never loses his dignity.\u00a0 It is of course a mild self portrait of a parody Nabokov, from the physical description of the aging Professor to his job teaching Russian literature to people who are uninterested.\u00a0 The reason Pnin is disqualified from teaching in the French Department is that unfortunately he speaks French and, worse, he can read it.\u00a0 He gently mocks American academia, and, equally well, Russian mispronunciation of English and the manners of the Russian \u00e9migr\u00e9s who have fled to America.\u00a0 A seriously fine novel.<\/p>\n

        Fire Season\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Connors<\/h2>\n

        A finely written book about fire watching,\u00a0 and the new thinking about fire prevention in America\u2019s wildernesses.\u00a0 Perhaps a little long but intriguing and in praise of solitude.<\/p>\n

        Various Voices\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Harold Pinter<\/h2>\n

        Actor poet, ranter.\u00a0 I grow to like the poems more and more, thanks to Julian Sands\u2019 fine renditions of them publicly, and his memories of working with the fearsome beast of the pause.\u00a0 A fine, sensitive man, and a grand playwright with a great sense of menace.\u00a0 He reminds me of John Donne.\u00a0\u00a0 Why?\u00a0\u00a0 I think the mute presence of Death, the ruffian on the staircase, as I think Joe Orton describes it.<\/p>\n

        The Tipping Point\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Malcolm Gladwell<\/h2>\n

        I came late to this book and admire some of his later work more.\u00a0 This I found a teeny touch tedious, though I love his description of types of people, such as Mavens and Connectors, which are very true and very well observed, I think for the first time.\u00a0 He has such an eye for humanity, and he makes stories out of the most unlikely sources.\u00a0 A fine writer and human being.<\/p>\n

        Secret Lives of Great Authors\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Schnakenberg<\/h2>\n

        Almost impossible to believe this name isn\u2019t made up.\u00a0 Anyway the book is composed of quick bites..\u00a0 or schnacks.\u00a0 Any book that relies on tons of illustrations and different coloured text is clearly not taking itself entirely seriously.\u00a0 It\u2019s a Sun newspaper approach to great authors.\u00a0 Amusing enough, with a strong preference for the scurrilous and naughty.\u00a0 Which would almost describe my friend Jim, who gave it to me as a birthday present.<\/p>\n

        Marty Feldman\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Ross<\/h2>\n

        The Biography of a Comedy Legend<\/em><\/p>\n

        A fine biography of a lovely man.\u00a0 I knew him well Horatio.\u00a0 He was on my first honeymoon, in the South of France, during the first week of Python filming in July 1969. Lyn and I would spent Christmas as houseguests with him and Lauretta at his lovely Victorian home in Hampstead overlooking the Heath.\u00a0 He enjoyed his rise to fame, and sudden English popularity, but when the American TV series came along (Marty Feldman\u2019s Comedy Machine<\/em>) all we potential writers fled from it, except Gilliam who was accustomed to Yanks after all.\u00a0\u00a0 None of us wanted to turn up at Elstree and write in a factory five days a week, that\u2019s just not the British way.<\/p>\n

        The book is good, with the occasional inevitable inaccuracies:\u00a0 for example I did not accompany Marty\u2019s body home to Hollywood in December as it plainly states, for the simple fact I had left the movie long before he died, actually in October, and I was in Australia by that time. (1982.)\u00a0 Bill Oddie is quoted rather unpleasantly.\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember him being much of a Marty friend, but he speculates about people\u2019s deaths that he knows nothing about.\u00a0 Tim Brooke-Taylor, of course, was very close to him, and is typically generous.\u00a0 Several commentators reveal anger and envy about America and personally I have always used his life as an example of what to avoid in Hollywood: mainly the film business\u2026but then my reasons for coming here were to raise a child, and I told my wife to shoot me if ever I became involved in Hollywood.\u00a0 She kindly consented to do that.\u00a0 The child was a big hit.<\/p>\n

        I will never forget Marty coming home to England to film Yellowbeard<\/em>, in early September 1982.\u00a0 He came into our house in Carlton Hill and Tania and I were shocked to see how thin and ill he looked.\u00a0 He said he was happy to be back in the UK making something silly with old friends again.\u00a0\u00a0 He was delightful as ever during the filming in Rye, though chain smoking.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t see that much of him in Mexico, as I was only there for three weeks and had a contract they had to shoot all my scenes, so I could leave quickly, so I left before Peter Cook fell off the waggon and Marty fell off the planet, but there were rumours of cocaine abuse, and clearly the heart attack was massive, though probably survivable in LA.\u00a0\u00a0 I was always told the story of the ambulance being stuck in Mexico City traffic, which is amongst the worst in the world, so that makes some sense.\u00a0 He was a brilliant writer, a great script editor, an hilarious actor, an extraordinarily loving friend, the finest companion and the most brilliant company.\u00a0 I think he enjoyed his fame and success.\u00a0 But fate and fame conspired as they do for us all.\u00a0\u00a0 It made me sad to read but happy to remember him.<\/p>\n

        The Letters of John Cheever\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edited by Benjamin Cheever<\/h2>\n

        Harvey Jason the extremely nice proprietor of Mystery Pier Books<\/em> kindly gave me this.\u00a0\u00a0 What a nice fellow he is.\u00a0 Here we get a little glimpse into the ambivalent life of the John Cheever, which one perceives from his books.\u00a0\u00a0 For instance his bi-sexuality.\u00a0\u00a0 Incidentally this is the 100th<\/sup> anniversary of his birth, and I noticed my other fav Michael Chabon was helping celebrate it in New York.\u00a0 As my old friend Barry Cryer said \u201csometimes life is very well written.\u201d<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        I was also happy to pick up a first edition of Graham Greene\u2019s Heart of the Matter <\/em>(1948) from Harvey.\u00a0 Rather battered and old but then so am I and the book is still younger than me!\u00a0\u00a0 This Mystery Pier Books<\/em> is behind Book Soup on Sunset and well worth a visit\u2026 www.mysterypierbooks.com<\/em><\/p>\n

        Spring Break (end of April)<\/h1>\n

        Harbor Nocturne\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Wambaugh<\/h2>\n

        I really enjoyed Hollywood Moon <\/em>recently but this one reads like a sequel, many of the same characters, which is fine and the story line is ok, but it needs a rewrite and probably the market demands didn\u2019t give him time.\u00a0 He is a very good story teller but not a great writer.<\/p>\n

        The Hilliker Curse\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Ellroy<\/h2>\n

        My Pursuit of Women.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Memoirs of a horny chap.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m not a huge Ellroy fan.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think he writes quite well enough.\u00a0 These are early sexual memoirs, and if you like that sort of thing then you\u2019ll like this.\u00a0 He seems an agreeable chap, and of course a literary star, but not, for me, a literary lion.<\/p>\n

        The Wapshot Chronicle\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Cheever<\/h2>\n

        I was so looking forward to reading this book.\u00a0 I have been on such a Cheever jag that I suppose I could only be disappointed.\u00a0 It was his first full length novel, after having been a brilliant short story writer and it took him a long time, and indeed he won awards but for me it is too tricksy.\u00a0 I believe he had to write this to get where he was going, but there are whole chapters in diary note form, and, well I put it down twice and still picked it up before finally passing on it.\u00a0 But compare it to the superb Bullet Park<\/em> and you see where he is going and what this one is lacking.<\/p>\n

        Bullet Park\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Cheever<\/h2>\n

        Sure to remain an all-time favourite of mine.\u00a0 He is fully into his stride, and what makes him a great writer is the underlying humour which is never very far away.\u00a0\u00a0 Somewhat like Evelyn Waugh in this respect.\u00a0 His comedy is naturalist and real and human, not farce; again like the mature Waugh.<\/p>\n

        A Model World\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Chabon<\/h2>\n

        Picked up a nice first edition paperback of these short stories. Which sped me happily to Mexico.<\/p>\n

        April<\/h1>\n

        The Beginner\u2019s Goodbye\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anne Tyler<\/h2>\n

        A very beautiful book.\u00a0 A meditation on death, well bereavement, and a reminder of the importance of life, every second, every moment with lovers and children.\u00a0 A very finely written tale of a partially crippled man whose far from perfect wife is suddenly killed in their own house by a falling tree and the widowers attempts to come back to life.\u00a0 His wife appears to him from time to time but not in a creepy way, as bit by bit he learns to put aside his grief and open himself to a possible future.\u00a0\u00a0 This roman a clef is told very simply and effectively with many wise observations from other characters, who tread gingerly around the whole question of grief.\u00a0 A good book puts you into a mood, a contemplative mood, where you experience the sufferings and joys of being human.\u00a0 And this is a very good book. \u00a0She is indeed a very fine writer.<\/p>\n

        An American Dream\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Norman Mailer.<\/h2>\n

        I think Mailer has too much ego to be a great novelist.\u00a0 He has all the skills but lacks the \u201cnegative capability\u201d which allows any character room other than Mailer himself.\u00a0\u00a0 He is always at your elbow, sweating and drinking, and boasting of his sexual prowess and his ability to stab women literally in the front and back.\u00a0 This 1962\/63 novel was written and published in monthly chapters in Esquire<\/em>, so at least there is some excuse for the lack of editing, and the flying by the seat of the pants writing, but the anger is never very far below the surface, and the cocksure quality of the man who kills his wife, and goes on to fuck two other ladies and screw with the rest of the world, this arrogance never reaches its natural conclusion, which is what it is crying out for.\u00a0 The wages of sin is death, though not here, just a long series of discussions about the devil and god.\u00a0 It is more fun than I make it sound, but it still is flawed work.<\/p>\n

        The Paris Review\u00a0\u00a0 200<\/h2>\n

        Interviews with Terry Southern, whom I knew a little in New York, and Bret Easton Ellis, the more thoughtful of the two, plus a nice piece by Geoff Dyer on the photographs of Prabuddha Dasgupta.<\/p>\n

        Zona\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Geoff Dyer<\/h2>\n

        He is such an odd fish.\u00a0 In the midst of an\u00a0 entirely boring exposition of what appears to be an entirely boring film by Tartovsky his footnotes get out of hand, even intruding into his main text, so that we get fascinating glimpses of Geoff Dyer, who is of course the real subject of this book.\u00a0 His odd fishiness is partly due to his upbringing, trips to America and some quite interesting experiences with hallucinogenics.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 His work swings wildly from utterly fascinating to utterly puzzling (like Jeff in Venice<\/em>.)\u00a0 He seems to me sometimes best as an essayist, but I would also give him great credit for inventing form.\u00a0 He seems brilliant at this.\u00a0 And he is also very good at diagnosing the meaning behind images, see above..<\/p>\n

        The Colour of Memory\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Geoff Dyer<\/h2>\n

        Or Jeff in Brixton.\u00a0\u00a0 I attempted this novel, which is not bad at all, set in South London, but the whole depressing world of bad drugs, bad teeth, bad sex and bad weather reminded me of what a depressing scene London can be.\u00a0 Of course Dyer is from Oxford which accounts for the slightly smug aspect of his writing. Inverted snobbery seems the Oxford vice, even if they aren\u2019t all inverts. But The Missing of The Somme<\/em> is a most brilliant book.\u00a0 And Steve Martin believes that Out of Sheer Rage <\/em>is one of the best novels ever.\u00a0 By the way the difference between Oxford and Cambridge is that Cambridge people are good at business and comfortable with being successful whereas Oxfordians have to apologise for success and pretend not to be supremely self-interested.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        And this is what I wrote about Geoff\u00a0 Dyer in 2001 when I read this one.<\/p>\n

        Paris Trance\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Geoff Dyer<\/h2>\n

        Another interesting novel from the very readable Geoff Dyer.\u00a0 This one mimics Women in Love, two males in love with two girls in Paris, one male fails the test and goes off to live in London.\u00a0 One scene of sodomy from Lady Chatterley and several quotes from Hemmingway, but still many fine scenes of first love and first time in a Paris of exiles.<\/em><\/p>\n

        Parisians\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Robb<\/h2>\n

        Billed as an adventure history of Paris,\u00a0 I picked up and finished reading this entertaining love story of Paris by a Francophile.\u00a0 Many good yarns, particularly about De Gaulle and the many failed assassination attempts on him, none more extraordinary than the hundred to three hundred people apparently wounded in a hail of bullets aimed at De Gaulle inside Notre Dame Cathedral while he remained standing erect at the altar.\u00a0 Having learned that the failed assassination attempt on Francois Mitterand was actually organised by Mitterand himself there is more than a little suggestion that De Gaulle was somehow implicit in this failed attempt.\u00a0 The odd thing is that no one seems to know, and there is no record of the people who were arrested at the time.\u00a0 Perhaps they disappeared. There was some necessity to remove several of the most dangerous of those in Paris left behind by the Nazis at the Liberation, particularly the Milice (the military Police who collaborated so enthusiastically with the SS.)\u00a0 A little too, on the recently deposed mini-man Sarkozy.<\/p>\n

        March<\/h1>\n

        Oh What A Paradise It Seems\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Cheever<\/h2>\n

        A very fine clean copy First Edition I picked up at Iliad.\u00a0 An almost exquisite short story\/novella about a group of people who are all brought into relationships through a toxic pond.\u00a0\u00a0 Once again the older protagonist Sears seems equally at home in bed with his girlfriend and the janitor. Cheever makes almost no moral judgements about his characters and their habits, which is why his world seems so honest.<\/p>\n

        Falconer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Cheever<\/h2>\n

        An extraordinary novel about a man incarcerated in a maximum security prison, how he got there (a fratricide, though it turns out not <\/em>actually) how he copes with the loss of wife and freedom, how he finds love with a man who escapes by assisting at a Mass when a Cardinal comes in by helicopter.\u00a0 He simply leaves with him.\u00a0\u00a0 And how eventually he manages to escape the prison to find freedom.<\/p>\n

        My Booky Wook\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Russell Brand<\/h2>\n

        Doing a little research on Russell, who has kindly consented to be in my Dick<\/em>.\u00a0 As Steve Martin told him, when we all dined together at Steve\u2019s, he is<\/em> a remarkable fellow and his book reads very honestly and well.\u00a0\u00a0 A huge hit too of course.\u00a0\u00a0 I have it on I Pad and bookshelf.<\/p>\n

        Raylan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

        It\u2019s rare for me to read a novel twice within two months but I did this, because I have become addicted to Justified<\/em>, the brilliant TV series, which I somehow missed first time round, and even missed the fact that it is based on an Elmore Leonard short story, and that he is an Executive Producer. When I noticed that what seems to be Tim Olyphant is on the cover of the book I had to read it again, now with the images of the people from the series in my mind.\u00a0 Leonard often mentions how his characters resemble real actors as a shortcut to describing people in his novels.\u00a0 Anyway I loved it even more.<\/p>\n

        The Honorary Consul\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

        I picked this first edition (1973) up at a book sale, and a first edition of Harper Lee\u2019s To Kill a Mockingbird.<\/em>\u00a0 At the checkout I was amazed to find they charged by the book, three bucks for each hardback.<\/p>\n

        The novel itself seems no better to me than when I found it disappointing in the Seventies.\u00a0\u00a0 Somewhat like Our Man In Havana<\/em>, the lead character Fortnum is a drunken honorary consul kidnapped mistakenly for the American Ambassador.\u00a0 Farce leads to tragedy with the usual marital betrayals, in this case the half-English Doctor narrating is betraying the Hon Con (with his ex-hooker wife). Dr. Plarr spends hours talking about God to the defrocked Priest who leads the revolutionary cell.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s all somehow vaguely silly, and indeed the twist of the end seems false to me, and without tension.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s the fault of all the damn Catholic discussions.\u00a0 Can\u2019t you just tell a story?\u00a0 \u00a0Must God come in too.\u00a0 He always ruins everything\u2026.<\/p>\n

        Killshot\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

        I also picked up this First Edition Elmore Leonard which I re-read with great delight.\u00a0 This may well be his best book, certainly he is at the peak of his powers in this 1989 novel.<\/p>\n

        February<\/h1>\n

        A Room with a View\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E. M. Forster<\/h2>\n

        I didn\u2019t really mean to re-read this, but I picked it up and was instantly hooked.\u00a0 Perhaps the most fun of all his books.\u00a0 And certainly working on What About Dick? <\/em>\u00a0I can see just how much it influenced me, particularly Helena and Beebe.\u00a0 It is a lovely novel and a lovely film, and I think real as opposed to the Downton Abbey<\/em> soap shite.<\/p>\n

        Heroes of History\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Will Durant<\/h2>\n

        On I Pad.\u00a0\u00a0 Impossible to pick him up without learning something or wanting to quote him on something.\u00a0\u00a0 This final book is written in his nineties!<\/p>\n

        The Essential Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Leonard Wolf<\/h2>\n

        I had been meaning to re-read Stevenson\u2019s fine novel and picked this up at Earthlight Books.\u00a0 I was fascinated by Stevenson\u2019s own story, told very succinctly here but the actual novel is printed in Italics which I cannot read!\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>I am unable to read any book that has long passages in italics, particularly books that start with them.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like books that change font, or shape, or turn into screenplays, or cell phone conversations, or even god forbid, texting.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m not quite sure why I have this prejudice except perhaps I think it is tricksy and showy-offy and unnecessary.\u00a0 It shows us the framework, when I wish to forget the scaffolding and enjoy the building.\u00a0 I shall re read Dr. J and Mr. K, but first I must re-read Nabokov\u2019s quite brilliant lecture on it, where he physically draws the house, and actually makes you see the scaffolding of the novel, which until then has been entirely concealed.<\/em>\u00a0 So his essay is a revelation of\u00a0 the book, as indeed are all his lectures on books. \u00a0If you think you are a good reader, read Nabokov\u2019s lectures on literature and think again.<\/p>\n

        Dante in Love\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A. N. Wilson<\/h2>\n

        So sure was I that I would enjoy it I managed to buy it twice.\u00a0 The fact is though, I got bored.\u00a0 He is dry and brittle in his writing.\u00a0 I liked the history, but it was the whole theological world of Purgatory that I found, well, nuts.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So I threw it.\u00a0\u00a0 I have a ridiculous prejudice against almost all religious writing, with the possible exception of the Bible, which is only tolerable in the St. James version, thanks to the historical accident of its being translated during Shakespeare\u2019s time, which was, perhaps, the richest period of the English language.\u00a0\u00a0 Only Churchill has as rich a sense of prose writing.\u00a0\u00a0 Although of course the Bible is poetry.\u00a0\u00a0 And metaphor.\u00a0\u00a0 Like all religion.<\/p>\n

        The Caretaker & The Dumb Waiter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Harold Pinter<\/h2>\n

        I re-read this happily while waiting to attend a college rehearsal of The Birthday Party.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0 I found it downstairs in a Book Fair which was selling paperbacks for a dollar and hard backs for three bucks, so that when I took them three first editions to pay for, they charged me nine dollars.\u00a0 I felt like a small kid who has just won the lottery and is being paid in sugar.\u00a0 One of the books was a first edition of To Kill a Mockingbird.<\/em><\/p>\n

        The Brigadier and The Golf Widow.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Cheever<\/h2>\n

        The illustrious Mike Nichols turned me on to Cheever with a fine present of the Collected stories a Christmas or two ago.\u00a0 I never used to like short stories but this changed my mind.\u00a0 I love them, and especially his.\u00a0 Carver is good but Cheever is better.\u00a0 I also like linked stories in the Julian Barnes manner.\u00a0\u00a0 This first edition I found in Washington and gave to Sophie Winkelman, a very brilliant and intelligent and extremely funny gal (ex-Cambridge Footlights natch) who has become a devoted fan of Cheever.\u00a0\u00a0 I can\u2019t imagine how I missed him until now, but what fun it is to discover a new writer as one gets older and know there is a whole stack of books to discover ahead of you.<\/p>\n

        Pieces\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Norman Mailer<\/h2>\n

        I had an old gag in the UK:\u00a0 \u201cNorman Mailer will be resumed as soon as possible.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>This book of short pieces reminds me why.\u00a0 Mailer is a son of a bitch who went crazy with fame and alcohol, but who at heart is a great writer.\u00a0 I was inspired to buy this because of the several bitchy chapters on a disastrous appearance he made with Gore Vidal on the Dick Cavett show.\u00a0\u00a0 He is enough of a good writer to show us that even when defending himself he reveals he was in fact an asshole\u2026\u00a0 I love many of his early books, and also quite a lot of the journalism (Fire on The Moon<\/em> and the boxing one)<\/em> but when he began to refer to himself as Mailer in the third person, and ran for Mayor and thought he could fight everyone, he became a dick.\u00a0\u00a0 Well we\u2019re all dicks from time to time, and he has left many treasures.<\/p>\n

        Contents May Have Shifted\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pam Houston<\/h2>\n

        I very much enjoyed Cowboys are my Weakness<\/em>, but I swiftly tired of this one.<\/p>\n

        Gilead\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Marilynne Robinson<\/h2>\n

        Pulitzer Prize winner.\u00a0 A fine novel recommended by Anne (Mrs M)\u00a0 The memoir of an old pastor, son of an old rather bastardly pastor, written to his young child.\u00a0 Very fine writing.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I noted this to send to my kids:<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        I\u2019m writing this in part to tell you that if you ever wonder what you\u2019ve done in your life, and everyone does wonder sooner or later, you have been God\u2019s grace to me, a miracle, something more than a miracle.\u00a0\u00a0 You may not remember me very well at all, and it may seem to you to be no great thing to have been the good child of an old man in a shabby little town you will no doubt leave behind.\u00a0 If only I had the words to tell you.<\/em><\/p>\n

        \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

        \u2026only to discover that my daughter had not only read the book but had written a twelve page paper on it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A fine thing education.<\/p>\n

        One On One\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Craig Brown<\/h2>\n

        I have been reading this on and off since picking it up in London.\u00a0 Hard to categorise but fascinating in short bursts, like Modri\u0107.\u00a0 (Pointless soccer comparison:\u00a0 don\u2019t go there.)\u00a0 As the blurb says life is made up of humans meeting one another.\u00a0 101 such encounters here in a circular form, Marilyn Monroe with Frank Lloyd Wright, Tolstoy with Tchaikovsky.\u00a0\u00a0 All true, and most fascinating.<\/p>\n

        January<\/h1>\n

        Raylan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

        Of course I picked this up immediately and consumed it at once, but was able to re read it again within two months (see later) due to the unexpected circumstances of falling in love with the TV series Justified<\/em> which turns out to be all about Raylan and the cast of cock-eyed characters who surround him in the coal fields of Kentucky.<\/p>\n

        Charles Dickens\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Claire Tomalin<\/h2>\n

        I have started the new year with the second of my packages from Mr. B\u2019s Bookshop, a nice big fat Dickens bio. It\u2019s delicious.\u00a0 The wonderful thing about Dickens is that the life is a perfect companion to the books.\u00a0 He, more than any other writer, has told us in his novels about his inner life and his deepest and most painful experiences growing up.\u00a0\u00a0 We can deduce from Shakespeare that he was feeling such and such at a certain stage in his life (especially armed with Stephen Greenblatt\u2019s great book) but all is transparently clear with Dickens, the hurts and grief and shames of childhood are clearly exposed.\u00a0 This book takes us further into the side of Dickens he was keen to hide, which, of course, is therefore most interesting, his affair with the actress and his rather poor behavior towards his wife.\u00a0\u00a0 Of course there is no reason why anyone should be a paragon just because they are intensely famous and much loved, but Dickens had more to lose than most.\u00a0 Writing is a solitary and bad tempered experience, so it is easy to forgive him some sexual joy in his later life, and of course blaming the innocent for our own moral mistakes is what we do well.\u00a0 How irritating to have a wife whose kindness and innocence is no excuse for his middle aged lust.\u00a0 Funny that Dickens the supreme moralist (which he is) should succumb to such a desperate condition as to be cruel and mean and harsh to the mother of his children, but how wonderful that we can learn more and more about the complexity of people instead of less and less with time.\u00a0 Ms. Tomalin is a fantastic biographer and has delved deeply and fairly sympathetically into a part of Dickens which he would rather have concealed, but which in the end, is as revealing as his novels of our ability to become monsters.<\/p>\n

        At Last\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edward St. Aubyn<\/h2>\n

        I can\u2019t remember why I put this down as I remember being quite impressed to start with.\u00a0 It\u2019s set at a funeral and funny, in a wicked way.\u00a0\u00a0 But I didn\u2019t persist. Travelling I think.\u00a0 Now I know why, it\u2019s the fifth in a series of books which I have adored reading in order, so I shall return the minute I get home.<\/p>\n

        I must have picked it up from Mr. B\u2019s in Bath last fall.\u00a0 He is the real thing.<\/p>\n

        Lunatics\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel<\/h2>\n

        I had a terrible existential problem with this:\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t decide whether to read the signed edition or the unsigned, which I had bought earlier.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t sure which would be funnier.\u00a0 I went to see them both at Skirball on their book tour: an evening of pure hilarity.\u00a0 Eventually I went with the unsigned edition so I could save the signed in mint condition, or sell on ebay\u2026.\u00a0 They wrote this tale together separately, sending chapters to each other as a challenge.\u00a0\u00a0 A fine idea and a very funny book.\u00a0 A kind of improv novel.\u00a0 I think the signed edition is funnier.<\/p>\n

        The Big Laugh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John O\u2019Hara<\/h2>\n

        I have enjoyed discovering O\u2019Hara, and read Butterfield 8<\/em> recently, which is much better than the Elizabeth Taylor movie (natch)\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s about an actor who uses his charm and sex appeal to get ahead in Showbiz.\u00a0 He has no moral compass and gets to conquer the world, becoming a move star, which is the appropriate place for charming actors with no moral compass, as O\u2019Hara knows.\u00a0 Here is the ending:<\/p>\n

        \u00a0Even in the jet age, it takes time to get from place to place, and Hubert Ward\u2019s year is segmented by travel and the brief stopovers in California, Texas, Florida, Kentucky, New York, and France.\u00a0 He has long since learned the names of the permanent servants in their various establishments maintained by Mary Jo, and half a dozen times a year he accepts their welcomes and farewells as genuinely cordial, which in some cases they are.\u00a0 He is Hubert Ward the movie star, and no son of a bitch can take that away from him.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

        \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ha ha ha ha ha.<\/em><\/p>\n

        Shockaholic \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carrie Fisher.<\/h2>\n

        It\u2019s short, wise and very funny. Like its author.<\/p>\n

        Rome\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Hughes<\/h2>\n

        Encyclopaedic history and art history by this cultural monster.\u00a0 Highly entertaining and informative.\u00a0 My own view of Rome is permanently clouded by the six months of hell on Gilliam\u2019s Munchausen<\/em> and I still felt depressed about it when I revisited Rome last year.\u00a0 I would rather go back to boarding school than wake up and find myself still on that movie.\u00a0 Rome is a brilliant and extraordinary city and it was amazing to live in The Ruspoli Palace and commute to Cinecitta past the Coliseum and along the Appian Way\u2026but still it was a Dante-esque hell.<\/p>\n

        Vulture Peak\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Burdett<\/h2>\n

        The latest in his excellent stories about Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep of the Thai police, which I unashamedly love.\u00a0 This one is the second book in a few weeks to concern itself with the fate of illicit trafficking in human organs, (see Raylan) <\/em>this time by a pair of sexy Chinese identical twins.\u00a0 Sonchai pops over to Dubai and Hong Kong in the course of unravelling this as usual very gripping tale.<\/p>\n

        Shortcut Man\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 P.G. Sturges<\/h2>\n

        Tales of Dick Henry, the Short cut man.\u00a0\u00a0 An ex LA cop whose job is to throw people out of their apartments for non-payment of rent.\u00a0 Hollywood yarns, I picked up on a whim, signed by the author, at Book Soup which seems to be becoming better and better as a bookshop.\u00a0\u00a0 More books and less high class porn.<\/p>\n

        \u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

        \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2011<\/u><\/h1>\n

        December<\/h1>\n

        Frank Sinatra Has A Cold\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gay Talese.<\/h2>\n

        The first of my Christmas books from Mr B\u2019s in Bath (they come beautifully individually wrapped in brown paper, string and wax.)\u00a0 Exquisitely written articles from a master of prose.\u00a0 I had consumed it almost before lunch.\u00a0 Thanks Santa.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Do check out Mr B\u2019s Emporium of Reading Delights<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

        14\/15 John Street, Bath, BA1 2JL, UK<\/p>\n

        01225 33 11 55<\/p>\n

        www.mrbsemporium.com<\/p>\n

        The Quotable Hitchens\u00a0 From Alcohol to Zionism<\/h2>\n

        I read this from cover to cover, finishing it just as he passed away.\u00a0 Fascinating and always quotable on every subject you can think of.<\/p>\n

        He will be remembered.\u00a0 And quoted.<\/p>\n

        Hollywood Moon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Wambaugh<\/h2>\n

        Is there anything better than being holed up in bed with a good detective story.\u00a0\u00a0 Apart I suppose from being holed up in bed with a great detective. This is a wonderful book.\u00a0 I was made very happy by the serio-comic stories of the Hollywood Division.\u00a0 The accurate rendering of the madness that is policing in Hollywood and the amazing cops who do it.\u00a0\u00a0 Extraordinary and funny, and just like us.<\/p>\n

        The Map and The Territory\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michel Houellebecq<\/h2>\n

        \u201cThe last act of the desperate writer is to introduce himself into his own novel\u2026\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s what I wrote about a Theroux book, and my heart sank as an interesting start turned post-modern with the arrival of the author in the story.\u00a0 But Houellebeck goes a step further.\u00a0 He has himself murdered in his own novel!\u00a0 Talk about anticipating the critics.\u00a0 Actually he won the Prix Goncourt with this one, and I have enjoyed his previous books, and I really like his writing style, but I found this increasingly irritating.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t wait to find out who dun it, so I dumped it.\u00a0\u00a0 But I picked it up again and read on again.\u00a0 Partly because he is a very good writer, and partly because I remembered with some embarrassment that I had actually put my own self in The Road to Mars<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 Such hypocrisy.\u00a0\u00a0 Anyway I gave it a second chance and was glad to do so because although I question whether he needed to be the victim in his own murder mystery, nevertheless he actually solves the murder rather well and we then go on into the future to learn of the death of the protagonist, the incredibly successful wealthy artist, who actively helps solve the murder.\u00a0 So it is not a perfect book, but has many great things in it and he does write so darn well, even in translation.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        And talking about the great pretentious European novel, how about this one?<\/p>\n

        The Prague Cemetery\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Umberto Eco<\/h2>\n

        A very large book.\u00a0 I found one chapter absolutely exquisite, deliciously written and I slipped off my shoes for a good read, only to find it stumbling on and on, without shape or plot or direction.\u00a0 I am rather uncomfortable with all the anti-Semitism which I know is meant ironically, well I hope so anyway, and is attempting some kind of history of this sickness, and I like the illustrations, which make the book seem old, but the biography of this person who may or may not be the person who thinks he is or isn\u2019t becomes so confusing that eventually you don\u2019t care.\u00a0 Nice big book, makes a great door stop.<\/p>\n

        Hello Chelsea It\u2019s Me Vodka<\/h2>\n

        On a quick trip to London I read my wife\u2019s guru Chelsea Handler on my I-Fad.\u00a0 She is very funny and witty and totally adorable.<\/p>\n

        Parisians\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Robb<\/h2>\n

        An Adventure History of Paris <\/em><\/p>\n

        I took this as a very good plane read.\u00a0 Robb is not the most gifted of wordsmith\u2019s (I find myself continually re-reading sentences)<\/p>\n

        but he is a good historian and has a smart eye for the story in history.\u00a0\u00a0 Here, many tales of Parisian life (and death).\u00a0 Who knew for instance that Emile Zola was murdered?\u00a0\u00a0 An excellent book for all Francophiles, and\u00a0 a great book for picking up and putting down on travels.\u00a0 I also enjoyed his The Discovery of France<\/em>.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Private Eye\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The First Fifty Years<\/h2>\n

        An A \u2013 Z by Adam MacQueen.<\/p>\n

        They weren\u2019t very nice people, but they were certainly funny.\u00a0 They made our lives worthwhile as we left school in the early sixties.\u00a0 Worth a dip.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

        \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

        \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/u>2011<\/u> <\/strong><\/p>\n

        Ctrl-Alt- 1-2-3<\/p>\n

        January<\/h1>\n

         <\/p>\n

        This year\u2019s reading was considerably slowed by my attempting to work hard on what is currently called Death and Shakespeare or Say No More.\u00a0 I have never lagged so far behind on my reading diary.\u00a0\u00a0 So most of this has been reconstructed in hindsight\u00a0 (actually blush April).\u00a0\u00a0 I wish I could say it was all worth it\u2026.<\/p>\n

        Life\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Keith Richards<\/h2>\n

        Not quite as we know it, but certainly life.\u00a0\u00a0 In a petrie dish.\u00a0\u00a0 Three years ago I had dinner with James Fox to tell him \u201canything I could remember\u201d about Keith, because, he said, he could remember nothing.\u00a0\u00a0 At the front of this book Keith says \u201cI haven\u2019t forgotten any of it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Not the first of the untruths, but the book has been so well written by James that it is highly readable.\u00a0 Keith is at his best talking about song writing, about which he has a lot to say and all of it true.\u00a0 In fact he is a closet intellectual, and I believe took all those drugs so he could tolerate the barely tolerable fact of having a brain on a rock and roll tour.\u00a0\u00a0 He is erudite and well read.\u00a0\u00a0 They used none of my stories, all of which were about Keith being out of his mind, (no surprise there) and the book is very good until the end when he turns on Mick in a classically ungrateful act of ungenerous fratricide.\u00a0\u00a0 I remember times in New York when Keith was in recovery upstate and he spent hours going up to visit him and taking him books.\u00a0 Of course nothing is more annoying than ones partners, but to leave shameful things in your book of life about people who have dragged you round the road redounds against him.\u00a0 Pity.\u00a0 He is a nice man.<\/p>\n

        Appointment in Samara\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John O\u2019Hara<\/h2>\n

        Nice Modern Library edition picked up in Walla Walla.\u00a0 Classic writing, classic book.\u00a0 He is very influenced by Fitzgerald, whose influence one can easily detect in this, but the country club snobs and the way Julian English drinks his way to insulting friend and foe to his demise is very much him.<\/p>\n

        Air Guitar\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dave Hicks<\/h2>\n

        Went to see him interview Steve Martin at a Writer\u2019s Block event in LACMA where he was very charming and had a lot to say but almost too much to say as the subject was Steve Martin and we were there to hear him promoting his fine novel about the art world An Object of Beauty.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 I find these essays promise much but deliver little.\u00a0 He is always about to make some devastating point but never quite gets round to it.\u00a0\u00a0 He is an agreeable chap and conversationalist and it was interesting to meet him afterwards and hear of the multi-disciplinary work he is doing on campus in New Mexico (?) but any Art Critic from the University of Las Vegas is clearly not simply interested in just art.\u00a0 Sex and drugs and rock and roll are his real loves.\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t think you can be a critic of that quite yet unless you work for Rolling Stone or The Rolling Stones.<\/p>\n

        The Looking Glass War\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

        Early.\u00a0 1965 First Edition.\u00a0 Small tales of amateur spying and the setting up of the secret service in the UK, at its most porous.\u00a0\u00a0 This will lead to the great Tinker Tailor world\u2026<\/p>\n

        Djibouti\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

        This one set amongst pirates in Djibouti, but of course I have forgotten everything.<\/p>\n

        Hero\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Korda<\/h2>\n
          \n
        1. E. Lawrence. Yes a hero. A military strategist, a remarkable stoic, an extraordinary historically important person, an unusual warrior and a weirdo\u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Very enjoyable biography and a useful look at the beginning of oil politics in the 20th<\/sup> Century.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Tales of The South Pacific\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Michener<\/h2>\n

          Short stories of the characters and the war in the South Pacific, it\u2019s boredom and its occasional violence (US troops raping nurses?)\u00a0 This would become South Pacific<\/em> the musical, but the stories are good and well told and its interesting to see how the adaptation took place.\u00a0 Nice first edition I picked up in Walla Walla.<\/p>\n

          City Boy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edmund White<\/h2>\n

          Gay memoirs of New York in the very gay period.\u00a0 He writes well and finely.<\/p>\n

          Nemesis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth.<\/h2>\n

          Its been a Roth year.\u00a0 His latest tells the tale of a healthy protagonist, working at an inner city school during a terrible year of Polio, which kills the young baseball kids.\u00a0 Encouraged by his girl friend to join her at an upstate summer camp teaching kids and counsellors to dive, he becomes the unwitting bringer of polio to this idyllic backwater and then succumbs to it himself.\u00a0 But what marks the book is his grasping at failure.\u00a0 In the final chapter we learn from one of the polio victims who finds him in late middle age that to punish himself he renounced his fianc\u00e9e who wished to live with him as a cripple.\u00a0 Self-hatred then becomes the motive.\u00a0 Something Job like in this, and something also of a Conrad move in the narrative.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0Zuckerman Unbound \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

          Roth\u2019s alter ego Zuckerman has gained great fame from writing Carnovsky, but this has brought shame on his parents and shabby stalkers on the streets.\u00a0\u00a0 The ambivalent side effects of literary fame, to a literary lion.<\/p>\n

          The Ghost Writer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

          So good I read it twice.\u00a0 And I could re-read it again right now.\u00a0 Just read the opening sentences and you are right in.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Zuckerman starting his literary career, and falling afoul of his father.\u00a0\u00a0 He is letting down the Jews.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And he encounters Anne Frank, who has survived (maybe).<\/p>\n

          A story about the importance of telling the truth in writing, ignoring all the pressures of parents, society, religions etc.\u00a0 Zuckerman listens in on the great author and his young mistress and is shocked, disturbed and elated.\u00a0 \u201cIf only I could invent as presumptuously as real life.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 This after his father has submitted an unpublished story of his to a Judge who writes an hilariously funny letter to its author.\u00a0 Roth is as daring and as honest as any writer.\u00a0 He is also revealing of the imperious and dictatorial insistence of the writer\u2026<\/p>\n

          Where Men Win Glory\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jon Krakauer<\/h2>\n

          And where Bush\u2019s win shame.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A simply brilliant book, about the great Pat Tillman and his amazing family, who stand up to the bullying Bush propaganda machine, which replaces a tragic and unnecessary killing of a brave true American from friendly fire, with a bullshit tale of a football hero killed by the Taliban.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He also goes into the Jessica Lynch bullshit story.\u00a0 This ought to be compulsory reading at schools, to warn people of the depths to which Government will swiftly sink when selling a war to the American people.\u00a0\u00a0 Best book of the year for me.<\/p>\n

          The King\u2019s War\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (1641 \u2013 1647)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 C. V. Wedgwood.<\/h2>\n

          Further reading of this arrogant man\u2019s folly.\u00a0\u00a0 An old edition from school\u2026<\/p>\n

          The Finkler Question\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Howard Jacobson<\/h2>\n

          Of course the first one of his I couldn\u2019t finish wins the Booker.\u00a0\u00a0 Is it me?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Of course.\u00a0\u00a0 But I didn\u2019t like this one at all.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ll try again some time.\u00a0\u00a0 Maybe.<\/p>\n

          The Alice Behind Wonderland\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Simon Winchester<\/h2>\n

          A most annoying book in which the author in great detail discusses the portraits of Charles Dodgson without reproducing them.\u00a0 <\/em>In fact but for the book jacket we wouldn\u2019t have a clue what he is talking about.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But surely a book like this can only be a book of photographs with text.\u00a0 It is sublimely pointless and nonsensical and deeply irritating to discuss pictures in great detail which we cannot see!\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

          Inside WikiLeaks\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel Domscheit-Berg<\/h2>\n

          In case one felt Assange wasn\u2019t paranoid enough here is someone exposing Wikileaks.\u00a0 Daniel Dumbshit hasn\u2019t much of interest to say though he reveals what went on etc.<\/p>\n

          And Furthermore\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Judi Dench<\/h2>\n

          Because I adore her I adored it.\u00a0 But to be fair, it\u2019s just too correct to be entertaining.\u00a0 She has to be nice about everyone in everything she was ever in, and so doesn\u2019t really become about a person.\u00a0 She is much sharper and funnier in real life.\u00a0 Lucky for me to know that.<\/p>\n

          Mexico Holiday Reading.\u00a0 27th<\/sup> March thru 3rd<\/sup> April<\/h1>\n

          Sunset Park\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Auster<\/h2>\n

          A brilliant book.\u00a0 He just damn well keeps getting better and better.\u00a0 The brilliant way these different character stories interrelate is extraordinary.\u00a0 I could read this whole thing again.\u00a0\u00a0 I may have to.\u00a0 Thanks to memory loss I may never have to buy new books again.\u00a0 Though one of the few things that get better with age is re-reading books you know and love.<\/p>\n

          King Lear\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Shakespeare<\/h2>\n

          Yes I know it\u2019s a bit pretentious reading this on the beach but it is extraordinarily gripping and each time you learn something new. \u00a0Fuck Shakespeare.\u00a0 He is just too damn good.<\/p>\n

          The House of Meetings\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis.<\/h2>\n

          Er.\u00a0 Not sure what this is about.\u00a0\u00a0 Might continue.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          A best seller I junked brought by Tania.<\/p>\n

          April<\/h1>\n

          Hitchens vs Blair<\/h3>\n

          Bitch v Hair.\u00a0 Well almost nothing Tony Blair says is of interest, it\u2019s all self interest.\u00a0 He plugs away at his new Faith based Charity, but of course we all know he became a Catholic after leaving office so at least someone would forgive him.\u00a0\u00a0 I doubt I shall forgive him even that.\u00a0 Hitchens is breathtakingly brilliant and the prospect of his imminent demise has neither shaken his disbelief nor sentimentalised his thinking.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Unfamiliar Fishes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sarah Vowell<\/h2>\n

          I find her very easy to put down.\u00a0 This one is about Hawaii.\u00a0 Oh God, apparently the Americans are colonists!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How unsurprising this sounds to non American ears.\u00a0\u00a0 But yes they made a real pigs arse of Hawaii.\u00a0\u00a0 But fortunately it keeps the Mexican beaches a bit clearer of the ugly American tourist, which makes Hawaii so uninteresting.\u00a0\u00a0 As I found before, Vowell\u2019s writing alternates between the prim and the dull, with smug and snide references to the British who did much better at preserving the Sandwich Isles than the Americans who turned it into a holiday hole of whoredom and boredom.\u00a0 Between the shocking Missionaries and the horrible whalers they created a schizophrenic mishmash of a society serving the great Yankee God Business.\u00a0 Anything rather than call it by its real name of Colonialism.\u00a0 The great American non-Empire of Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, and Puerto Rico.\u00a0\u00a0 No surprise that Melville the author of the practically unreadable Moby Dick should have arrived here on a whaler.<\/p>\n

          The House of Meetings\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/h2>\n

          Finally I read this book all the way through with delight.\u00a0 It is a love story of a rapist.\u00a0 He tells his tale, raping his way across what would become East Germany, and he will end up raping the love of his life (Zoya) his dead brother\u2019s ex-wife whom he adores and follows and fantasises about, before he makes his Nabokovian exit to America.\u00a0\u00a0 And she will make her exit leaping on to the frozen Moscow river from the parapets of the famous stone bridge.\u00a0\u00a0 A victim of the revolution, he returns a war hero to a life of arrest and the endless meaningless brutality of the camps, where his younger brother Lev appears but who internally \u201cresists\u201d \u2013 giving up poetry but never collaborating with the brutal world in which he too is a captive.\u00a0\u00a0 But Lev holds on against the tyranny whereas our hero surfs through it, surviving, but compromising, and killing where necessary, so he too becomes both brutal and unfeeling before the slow death of the protagonists.<\/p>\n

          Two things mark Amis \u2013 his relentless fury at the monstrous depraved madness of Stalin \u2013 and his knowledge of the sadness of sex, it\u2019s inability to quell the disappointed itch of love, the desire to utterly possess the love object.\u00a0\u00a0 And what kind of freedom is that?\u00a0\u00a0 Zoya describes her love life with Lev as freedom, they find freedom in each others arms, while X has only possession and betrayal and plans for future possession.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A Russian kind of love.\u00a0 A Stalinist love song.\u00a0\u00a0 The rape of Russia by the Georgian ogre, a man who mass murdered by quota.\u00a0 Must be considered as a kind of novel companion to Koba The Dread.\u00a0\u00a0 And of course brilliant.<\/p>\n

          The secret he learns from the House of Meetings is that he has repressed love feelings for his brother.<\/p>\n

          The Invisible Dragon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dave Hickey<\/h2>\n

          More art essays about the beautiful.\u00a0 Including Mapplethorpe butt snaps from the sixties\u2026.<\/p>\n

          All the Time in the world\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E.L. Doctorow<\/h2>\n

          I don\u2019t like this writer at all anymore.\u00a0 He used to be good, and had the possibility to be better, but now I cannot read his sentences and his stories bore me.\u00a0 (Failed to live up to:\u00a0 cf D.H. Thomas)<\/p>\n

          Exit Ghost\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

          Nathan Zuckerman returns to NYC after an eight year absence, to possibly swap homes and indulge in an affair.<\/p>\n

          Super Chicken Nugget Boy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Josh Lewis<\/h2>\n

          Signed by the author.\u00a0 As you might expect, since he gave it to me over dinner with Jeff Davis.<\/p>\n

          Bossypants\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tina Fey<\/h2>\n

          The celebrity book du jour.\u00a0\u00a0 Steve Martin read out some very funny passages when he interviewed her at the Nokia Centre, where she was selling books by the ton.\u00a0 Perhaps that is the best way to approach a book like this \u2013 have it read aloud in the car, preferably by Steve\u2026<\/p>\n

          Reporting\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Remnick<\/h2>\n

          Collection of long form articles.\u00a0\u00a0 I bought in Walla Walla (Earthling Books) because of a nice essay on Philip Roth \u2013 who has me hooked.\u00a0 Enjoyed an article on Blair running for re-election and Gore not.\u00a0\u00a0 Many fine things to dip into.<\/p>\n

          The Old Man and The Sea\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ernest Hemmingway<\/h2>\n

          He isn\u2019t my favourite cup of tea.\u00a0 I find his famous short sentences annoying.\u00a0 Almost as annoying as Gertrude Stein, who is almost totally annoying.<\/p>\n

          This is a nice Book of the Month Club first edition from 1952 I found in Walla2 for fifty bucks, so certainly a good buy, but I see I had abandoned it by page 32.\u00a0\u00a0 It is a fishing tale.\u00a0 Hunting, fishing, war\u2026 certainly a pattern there for a soon to be suicide.<\/p>\n

          Venice\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter Aykroyd<\/h2>\n

          Essays on, rather than a history of.\u00a0\u00a0 They become in the end just too generalised.\u00a0 It is the particular in history that is of interest, not the thesis.\u00a0 I kept hoping to find meat and chewing only on vegetables.<\/p>\n

          The Princes in the Tower\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alison Weir<\/h2>\n

          I had to read it again.\u00a0 It seems to me that Richard 111 was a serial killer.\u00a0 He seems to have done a couple of jobs for his brother the King, before replacing him on the throne, murdering his way towards his own crown with ruthless efficiency. \u00a0He is utterly Machiavellian and his rise and fall are amongst the most dramatic in history.\u00a0 The odd thing is why the Shakespeare play should be so funny\u2026?<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Summer Reading<\/h1>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Leaving home for Amsterdam, Trieste, Venice, Rome and then six weeks in Provence.<\/p>\n

          Rather desultory reading summer.\u00a0 Nothing quite grabbed me.<\/p>\n

          The best book I read was<\/p>\n

          White Noise\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don Delillo<\/h2>\n

          An amazingly fine novel.\u00a0\u00a0 The book is about death and the fear of death.\u00a0 How we learn of it.\u00a0 How we feel about it.\u00a0 In a brilliantly described family of an Academic at a small University town the Professor of Hitler studies, a course he invented, is overtaken by an \u201cevent\u201d (in satire worthy of Heller) a noxious toxic cloud. Simulac constantly prepare for everything but the real thing, a perfect parody of how we face death.\u00a0 His perception of wives, fathers, children and friends is stunningly accurate.\u00a0 Above all he has a deep abiding sense of humour, which means he can sidle sideways into the awesome business of writing about death. Set pieces of great prose:\u00a0 the burning of the town mental asylum, the nebulous mass of the cloud itself.\u00a0 An awesome novel of great value.\u00a0 How we hide frm the things that most worry us, while still perceiving them.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          I had thought this would be my summer for reading all of Roth.<\/p>\n

          The Prague Orgy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

          A short squib of a book which I enjoyed re reading.<\/p>\n

          I married a Communist\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

          I found this tale of two brothers rather annoying.\u00a0 Ira, the pontificating Communist, married to the anti-Semitic Jewess Hollywood starlet.<\/p>\n

          But I kept putting it down.\u00a0 Freedom of speech is the theme, and certainly it was a hard won freedom in the time of the Enquiries, but it was somehow too much for me, though I finished it.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          I didn\u2019t finish<\/p>\n

          American Pastoral\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

           <\/p>\n

          I could hardly start<\/p>\n

          The Garden of Eden\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ernest Hemmingway<\/h2>\n

          I dipped into<\/p>\n

          The Pat Hobby Stories\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald<\/h2>\n

          Which I did not enjoy as much as before, or as I had anticipated.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          And I never finished<\/p>\n

          The Women\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 T. C. Boyle<\/h2>\n

          Which I was quite enjoying.\u00a0 But again I left it in France for the unguarded moment, to complete.<\/p>\n

          Girls Like Us\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sheila Weller<\/h2>\n

          I read mainly the Joni bits, as I am not so interested in Carol\u00a0 King or Carly Simon, though it was fun reading about some of the mutual times in NYC, where Tania and I appear, but she under the wrong name!\u00a0 For a while we spent some time together when she was married to James.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          And I did enjoy many of the short stories in<\/p>\n

          Never Breathe a Word\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Caroline Blackwood<\/h2>\n

          Collected stories by Evgenia\u2019s mother, though I prefer her own stories.<\/p>\n

          The Hare with the Amber Eyes<\/h2>\n

          Didn\u2019t grab me at all.\u00a0 This netsuke book, but I guess it prepared me a little for Tokyo.\u00a0 I don\u2019t say I won\u2019t finish it sometime in France.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Some books I read on the I Pad, including the one about the French, which was okay but spread a bit thin.<\/p>\n

          La Seduction\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elaine Sciolino<\/h2>\n

          How the French Play The Game of Life<\/em><\/p>\n

          Which I read on my I Fad.\u00a0 Her book which basically suggests that French men are different, got a huge lift from coming out the instant DSK was arrested in NY under suspicion of raping a hotel chambermaid.\u00a0 Since he features in her book as a serial abuser it was somewhat unfortunate for him and very fortunate for her, for essentially this is a very short argument run very long.<\/p>\n

          The great thing about the I Fad is its ability to fulfil instant demand.\u00a0 I also ordered<\/p>\n

          Ideas Man\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Allen<\/h2>\n

          An unfortunate photograph and an unfortunate memoir.\u00a0 When you are one of the luckiest men on the planet it is better to seem grateful than bitch about someone who helped you get there (see the Iago side of the Richards Jagger relationship.) Here Paul manages to complain a lot about Gates, which I am sure is irresistible, but bad policy.\u00a0 Tania reckons he is an Asperger\u2019s for sure, no eye contact etc, but they did a remarkable thing and the near death certainly brought him to life, even if not exactly life as we know it Jim.\u00a0 He kindly sent me an autographed copy and I will take a little more time to read it.\u00a0\u00a0 He is a kindly man in his weird way.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Also on I Pad:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

          A Little Princess.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Frances Hodgson Burnett<\/h2>\n

          Being the whole story of Sara Crewe now told for the first time.<\/em><\/p>\n

          Which I read because Gorfaine\/ Schwarz \u00a0wanted to turn it into a musical.\u00a0 It\u2019s fine, but the movie was very well done.<\/p>\n

          How I Escaped My Certain Fate\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stewart Lee<\/h2>\n

          Tales from the joke face.\u00a0 Stand up memoirs very well done.<\/p>\n

          Kafka\u2019s Dick\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alan Bennet<\/h2>\n

          A sudden remembrance made me check this out in case of clash, but no problem really and I didn\u2019t finish this play, though I remember seeing it at the Royal Court.<\/p>\n

          Caesar and Cleopatra\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bernard Shaw<\/h2>\n

          I wondered if this might make a musical, but it seems to have lost its charm.<\/p>\n

          Three Cups of Deceit\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jon Krakauer<\/h2>\n

          A long essay and a fabulous expose of the exaggerated charity of the somewhat hypocritical smug writer Greg Mortensen\u2019s lying claims in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

          Twentynine Palms\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel Pyne<\/h2>\n

          Katie\u2019s father\u2019s rather enjoyable thriller novel which I also downloaded, and I am reading a PDF download of his latest novel as he has of course asked me for a quote<\/p>\n

          A Hole in the Ground owned by a Liar \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel Pyne.<\/h2>\n

          Katie\u2019s Dads latest which I have downloaded in PDF and was enjoying.\u00a0 He writes to me and asks for a quote\u2026.\u00a0 See later<\/p>\n

          The Missing of the Somme\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Geoff Dyer<\/h2>\n

          Very fine, but the trouble with the I Fad is that I read and pick it up all over the place and so it is impossible to keep to the nice consistent pattern of reading lists.\u00a0 See later.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Also on the I Fad I read<\/p>\n

          The Merry Wives of Windsor\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Shakespeare<\/h2>\n

          Because I did the Hank\u2019s charity read with Marty Short and Ken Branagh and Tracey Ullman and\u00a0 so on\u2026<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          So back to the real book world.<\/p>\n

          The Age of Wonder\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Holmes<\/h2>\n

          Pulled me out of my reading ennui with the fabulous tale of Joseph Banks on the first Cooke cruise to Tahiti.\u00a0 A wonderful story, which continued into his relationship with Herschel and his sister, the most devoted cosmologists, but I ran out of steam with Humphrey Davy, though could easily pick it up again next time I am in Cotignac.\u00a0 Well fortunately I had two copies so finished it in LA.\u00a0 The crazy mad nitrous oxide parties of Davy and his friends\u2026 My God, Leary\u2019s all.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          There were some tiny Penguin books I found at Venice airport, which were variously fun:\u00a0 Updike\u2019s and Amis [peres and Nabokovian gems, all about the length of a short flight, so excellent for travel.<\/p>\n

          Dear Illusion:\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kingsley Amis<\/p>\n

          Terra Incognita:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Vladimir Nabokov<\/p>\n

          The Machine Stops:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E. M. Forster<\/p>\n

          Rich in Russia:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Updike<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Usually when I leave for a while there are lots of unfinished orphans, odds and sods incomplete, things I have picked up, partially discarded, set aside for better times with the intention of finishing and sometimes with the intention of abandoning, so they may quietly die while I am gone.\u00a0 My habit of reading two or three books at a time can also lead to a trail of books settling into the sand, often through no fault of their authors.<\/p>\n

          Here is a partial list of the \u2018found abandoned\u2019, some of which I may pick up and continue with, in my own weird way.<\/p>\n

          Where I\u2019m Calling From\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Carver<\/h2>\n

          Selected stories.\u00a0\u00a0 Short, dark, penetrating.\u00a0 He gets to character very quickly, through details and observation of small but revealing characteristics.\u00a0 I like them a lot and shall continue dipping.<\/p>\n

          Reporting\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Renwick<\/h2>\n

          This looks to be something I picked up in Walla2 probably attracted by his essay on Philip Roth.\u00a0 They look nice, and I was clearly dipping as there is no bookmark but a jacket flap turned back around an essay on Nabokov.\u00a0 I think I\u2019ll leave it out for double dipping.<\/p>\n

          Encounters with the Archdruid\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John McPhee<\/h2>\n

          Narratives about a conservationist and three of his natural enemies.\u00a0\u00a0 So says the sub text.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure what the three natural enemies are apart from time, and the falling off of memory.\u00a0\u00a0 I like McPhee but he is on occasion prolix.\u00a0\u00a0 Oh that\u2019s right, they are stumbling around the High Sierras, and I was geek enough to track their trail on an I Pad Map App.\u00a0 Conversations as they go, about primal land, and rights to open it for the people, and preserving it and so on.\u00a0\u00a0 And yes I might continue.<\/p>\n

          Apparitions and Late Fictions\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Lynch<\/h2>\n

          Here\u2019s one I have no memory of, except I remember the hand free watch face which is a striking image of frozen no time.\u00a0 I see I am about two thirds through, somewhere through Apparition<\/em> and I\u2019ll give it a go and see.\u00a0 (I didn\u2019t.(<\/p>\n

          The War Against Clich\u00e9\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/h2>\n

          Essays and Reviews 1971 \u2013 2000<\/em><\/p>\n

          I have been enjoying my resurgent interest in Amis since last summer\u2019s eye opening read of Koba the Geek, his demolition of the man monster Stalin.\u00a0\u00a0 Here I see I have again bookmarked an essay on Philip Roth, so I\u2019ll pick up from there.\u00a0 Hm, seems like there\u2019ll be quite a delay before I start the new package of books I sent in from Mill Valley.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          La Retour de France.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 14th<\/sup> July 2011<\/h1>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Okay that\u2019s housekeeping.\u00a0\u00a0 Since my return I have read and enjoyed two paperback best sellers:<\/p>\n

          The Big Short\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Lewis<\/h2>\n

          Inside the Doomsday Machine.<\/em><\/p>\n

          Michael Lewis leads one gently through the crash, and the evil bastards, and the ignorant gits, who profited from and sold the poor into worthless loans, which would lead, almost inevitably, into the crash of Wall Street.\u00a0 He writes of the brave f<\/p>\n

          ew who saw what was to them inevitable and who betted against it.\u00a0\u00a0 What a system?\u00a0\u00a0 Would they could have denounced it and had people arrested, but you mustn\u2019t try and tame the Bear.\u00a0 It is sacrosanct to America that Wall Street must remain out of control. Since Reagan took the restraints off, paid for by the restrained, there have been at least three ugly meltdowns,\u00a0 Savings and Loans, Enron, and the Collapse of the Bond market.\u00a0 Finely told and I finally understood what the Bond market thing was.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The second best seller I picked up was<\/p>\n

          Outliers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Malcolm Gladwell<\/h2>\n

          The story of success.<\/em><\/p>\n

          He makes a very good point about the 10,000 hours theory, and there seems to be plenty of evidence.\u00a0 His thesis: in a nutshell, nobody got good by accident, nobody got good without some help from fate, Gate\u2019s access to a computer paid for by wealthy neighbours, Beatles in Hamburg.\u00a0\u00a0 The story of one man making it from impossible odds is simply untrue.\u00a0 He makes the case that there are good times in which to be born and there are bad. \u00a0You are better off being born on January 1st<\/sup> if you are to be a pro ice hockey player, than any other time, and if you are born after August forget it, you have no chance, because your peers have already six months of development ahead of you. \u00a0(Being born Post World War Two seems to be a good time.\u00a0 At least to be British. We didn\u2019t have to avoid the army or Vietnam.)\u00a0 He writes well and intelligently about all sorts of seemingly unrelated things like the accident patterns on Korean Air, and he says quite simply that the things we try and deny for political correctness say \u2013 like where we are from \u2013 are absolutely what define us and pre condition us to respond, by fighting if we are from that sort of Scottish descent, or in other ways if from different societies.\u00a0 And this societal pre patterning persists long afterwards.\u00a0 So Yay to him for opening that door once more.\u00a0 And a big thank you for comedians everywhere.\u00a0 Stereotyping is often accurate. Gladwell\u2019s genius is he goes and asks why it should be so, and evidences good examples of how it comes to be.\u00a0\u00a0 I loved his simple explanation of why Asians are good at Math \u2013 their numbering system makes it simple, whereas our convoluted, partially language based, counting systems, leads the brain into endless confusion.\u00a0 If you can grasp math as a friend then it does not become a self-fulfilling torment.\u00a0\u00a0 A most interesting book.\u00a0 I dipped into his Tipping Point and I shall read him further.<\/p>\n

          Pulse\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Barnes<\/h2>\n

          The new collection of vaguely linked short stories is a return to form for him, and an example of what he does best, conveying character through dialogue.\u00a0\u00a0 These short stories are almost play-like in their lack of descriptive prose, but his characters talk, bicker and despair and come to life immediately.\u00a0\u00a0 Happy to see he\u2019s back.<\/p>\n

          School Rules and Dutch Girls\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Two screenplays for TV.<\/h2>\n

          I was reading about William Golding\u2019s Lord of the Flies<\/em>, and this is the same sort of story \u2013 the incredible inhumanity of boys in a group.\u00a0\u00a0 Something I know a little about, and how it soon becomes bullying and then out right fascism.\u00a0\u00a0 He discusses this on a nice long intro about his own schooling at a public school in Scotland.\u00a0\u00a0 He is about seven years behind me and the difference seems to be that we were still allowed to flog junior boys.\u00a0 Still the same senseless cruelty.\u00a0 Not dissimilar from the extreme in the Bunker, which I am also reading about.\u00a0\u00a0 Here the bullied figure comes back for revenge, and the upper class twit is saved by the middle class boy who has partially betrayed him.\u00a0 The full working out of the British class system.\u00a0 One wonders how this evolved, out of society or creating a society.\u00a0 Surely the former.\u00a0 A school must have mirrored if not society then the sort of society they wanted to create.\u00a0 This is Doctor Arnold at Rugby.\u00a0 Boyd\u2019s best thought is that growing up in public school allows no growth of the private person, and there is an inability to get in touch with this private self.\u00a0 That and responding to the opposite sex.<\/p>\n

          Tolkein\u2019s Gown\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rick Gekoski<\/h2>\n

          A marvellous book.\u00a0 I had actually read it when I met him at a Book Fair in LA but he presented me with a copy and autographed it for me so it is entirely appropriate.\u00a0 The book is about books and their owners and collecting and first editions and very eloquently written.<\/p>\n

          Our Tempestuous Day\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carolly Erickson<\/h2>\n

          A fine and very well written brief history of the Regency Period.\u00a0 She writes very well, and is particularly good at set pieces.\u00a0 The Peterloo Massacre is very well done for example.\u00a0 Much about the Regent, his wife Caroline, and people such as Byron and Caroline Lamb.\u00a0 I think she is really good.<\/p>\n

          The Sense of an Ending\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Barnes<\/h2>\n

          A fine short novel.\u00a0\u00a0 Very good.\u00a0 Booker winner surely.<\/p>\n

          Laura Rider\u2019s Masterpiece\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jane Hamilton<\/h2>\n

          I couldn\u2019t decide whether it was merely interesting at times or truly awful.\u00a0 About a wife who organises her husband into an affair with a celebrity whom she adores.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 An odd creature.<\/p>\n

          Silk Parachute\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John McPhee<\/h2>\n

          The best of these unrelated articles is Season on the Chalk, about the huge belts of chalk that form the Downs and then Beachy Head and then go under the channel, emerging in the champagne district of France.\u00a0 Filled with interesting facts about chalk and why it isn\u2019t limestone, facts I have already forgotten\u2026.<\/p>\n

          The Fall of Berlin 1945\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Beevor<\/h2>\n

          A magnificent history of the nemesis that awaited the civilians of Berlin, Prussia and Eastern Germany with the arrival of the Red Army.\u00a0 Four million rapes, twelve year olds on bikes trying to stop tanks, the full irony of the cowardly end of the grotesque Nazi leadership.<\/p>\n

          Trip Round the World.\u00a0 \u00a0Departed August 28th<\/sup>.<\/h1>\n

          Japan, Tokyo, Bath, Cotignac, Sweden, London, Cotignac, London, New York.<\/h1>\n

          Paris After the Liberation\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Beevor & Artemis Cooper<\/h2>\n

          I continued my reading of the excellent Beevor, with this study of the return of de Gaulle to Paris, and the stories of Hemmingway etc. Unfinished and left in France for travel.<\/h2>\n

          All My Friends Are Superheroes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Andrew Kaufman<\/h2>\n

          Sadly crap.\u00a0\u00a0 And Canadian crap at that.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Bought in Bath 31st<\/sup> thru 2nd<\/sup> September\u00a0 and taken to Provence, 2nd<\/sup> thru 13th<\/sup> September<\/strong><\/p>\n

          Sense and Sensibility\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jane Austen<\/h2>\n

          In Bath I picked up a lovely little collectors library edition and very much enjoyed it.\u00a0 It\u2019s ages since I read this novel and I really loved it.\u00a0 She is so funny.\u00a0 Like Dickens she is very good at hypocrisy.\u00a0 Lack of self-knowledge, characters say one thing and act another, revealing themselves, for instance the \u201cpoverty\u201d of their half-brother who is persuaded by his wife to give Mrs Dashwood (the surviving wife) and her three daughters, absolutely nothing.\u00a0 This is more than irony this is savage irony (Swift \u2013 saevo indignation) which Dickens perfects.\u00a0 She has a clear eye to the folly and pretensions of society \u2013 living unhappily in Bath between 1801 and 1806, when they escape to Clifton.\u00a0\u00a0 First four novels published anonymously. She does not do the Dickens thing by addressing the reader directly to involve himself in the suffering of society \u2013 there is no pulpit, but she is always there at your elbow, often with killer understatements.\u00a0 It is satire often, comedy with sentiment.\u00a0 The story revolves around the final awakening of sense in the younger sister Marianne as opposed to sensibility.\u00a0 Elinor sees all and suffers all from her tragedy of unrequited love but Marianne does not die.\u00a0 Almost.\u00a0 Through suffering to wisdom.\u00a0\u00a0 Like all her books it is about money, lack of it, expectations of inheriting it, finding suitable men to marry with or without it.\u00a0 There is almost no male mentioned who does not have a price attached.\u00a0 This one feels is very close to the society of Bath which she was able to observe so closely.\u00a0 I loved it.<\/h2>\n

          I then turned to, a copy of which I picked up in Bath.<\/h2>\n

          The Swerve\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Greenblatt<\/h2>\n

          Stevens book is most interesting, about the discovery by the medieval book searcher Poggio di Baldisarri of an ancient copy of Lucretius Poem On The Nature of Things which Steven argues is a classical statement of the real views of Epictetus, and the influence of these views on modern science, and ultimately, through Thomas Jefferson, on the Pleasure Principle, the pursuit of happiness.\u00a0 I get to discuss this book with him in October at Writers Block.<\/h2>\n

          The Deer Park\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Norman Mailer<\/h2>\n

          Perhaps my favourite Mailer.\u00a0 He writes so marvellously.\u00a0 In many ways in this book he writes a little like Scott Fitzgerald.\u00a0\u00a0 And of course it concerns Hollywood, but viewed from the distance of Palm Springs, here called Desert D\u2019Or, with wholly recognisable figures, such as Orson Welles and Marilyn Monroe with whom the ex-flyer hero has a huge affair.\u00a0 Largely about love and sex and the connection, if any, between them.\u00a0\u00a0 Lots of other excellent characters, of pimps, and queens and hangers on, to the word of the Studios as mediated by the Committee for Un American activities.<\/p>\n

          This is a most honest book because he tackles and captures the vagaries and many hesitations and conflicts men feel about sex and physical love.\u00a0 The Deer Park is a pleasure ground of the sexually available (Is this Roman or French?)\u00a0 Which here is used as a metaphor for Hollywood.<\/p>\n

          Nothing is clear cut, nothing is self-evident, ambivalence is everywhere. It shows relationships working and not working.\u00a0 The completely different feelings about the lover, hatred, contempt, arousal and indifference. Our ambivalence about ourselves and our desires.\u00a0 Set amongst the corruption of the Studio World, the commercialisation of an apparent art form and the temptation to a young writer (obviously here Mailer writes of himself) to shag the beautiful and take the money.\u00a0\u00a0 It explores the hypocrisy, and how people become users of each other.\u00a0 All for HT, the exploitive Studio Head who is powerfully connected to the Subversive Committee and their goons.<\/p>\n

          And in the ambivalent figure of Welles, we see the self-loathing of the creative director, plus his heartlessness torn between his lust for the beautiful and his frustration with the stupid.\u00a0 Then the snobbery of the ageing rou\u00e9 amongst a world of constantly available fresh meat.\u00a0 This is still true of contemporary Hollywood society and sadly hinders men committing to relationships there.<\/p>\n

          And now the Dan Pyne which I read on a PDF on my I Pad.<\/h2>\n

           <\/p>\n

          A Hole in the Ground owned by a liar\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dan Pyne<\/h2>\n

           <\/p>\n

          I enjoyed this tale of a man who buys a gold mine.\u00a0 The title is the definition often attributed to Mark Twain, of a Gold Mine.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s actually a story of two pairs of brothers, the hero who has great affection for his brother, although he betrays him with women, who are attacked by two rather less real Asian brothers in the mining business, who attack them, and blow them up and burn down their house and do everything in their power to take their mine.\u00a0 In many ways it is of course a movie and like a movie it must and does have a satisfactory resolution.\u00a0\u00a0 My problem was how to write something useful for Dan, knowing how publishers work.\u00a0\u00a0 I came up with two quotes:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Like Jane Austen, without the violence.\u00a0\u00a0 Which Dan liked and a slightly longer one\u2026 which I need to look up.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Break\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pietro Grossi<\/h2>\n

          Not overimpressed by a book heavily recommended by Mr. B\u2019s in Bath but I\u2019ll leave it here in France and try again, and have a go at his first book:<\/h2>\n

          The Fist\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pietro Grossi<\/h2>\n

          A very light book to travel with.\u00a0\u00a0 And autographed I see.\u00a0 It\u2019s actually three short stories, the first one of which, about a skinny boy boxer, who builds and defends his reputation against The Goat, a thicker set boy, whoch builds up to a classic fight, but is about much more, growing up, maturing, becoming a man.\u00a0\u00a0 I shall save the other two here in Provence.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Nice to Stockholm 13th<\/sup> September and then London 16th<\/sup>\u00a0 September thru 22nd<\/sup><\/h1>\n

          Where I picked up three books on Madonna, sorry Wallis Simpson.<\/p>\n

          Wallis Simpson seems to be the sort of person who the less you know the better.<\/p>\n

          Wallis Simpson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rose Tremain.<\/h2>\n

          A very touching short story about the dying Duchess under the care\/imprisonment of the appalling Frenchwoman Maitre Blum. Her life and memory slips away, and it is beautifully imagined and written, and far and away the most sympathetic she will ever appear.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Back in Provence again.\u00a0\u00a0 September 22nd<\/sup> thru 30th<\/sup> (maybe)<\/h1>\n

          Third time this year and lo, how wonderful, the nightingales are also back.\u00a0 I have a tremendous virus, that laid Tania low as we left Stockholm for London. But sitting in the sunshine, tripping out on the virus and the many drugs one takes I realise I could be content to die here.\u00a0 Partly of course motivated by a wonderful book by Martin Amis..<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Experience\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/h2>\n

          A wonderful, tender poetical book about literature and writing and being the son of a father who was a very special comic writer.\u00a0 His love and support for him and tender recounting of his various lives with him, and his helping him die, is reflected in his own life, of various upheavals, and the sadness and leaving children behind in failed marriages, so that while he repeats the same patterns as his father, he never seems to fall into the comic alcoholism of Kingsley.\u00a0 \u00a0In fact we learn very little of his own wives and marriages \u2013 a deliberate choice, so that there is no bitterness in the book, only kindness and wisdom and regret.\u00a0 Even the Fourth Estate, who blast him for leaving his agent, and for having his appalling dental problems fixed in New York, only come in for a sad side swipe here and there, and he is remarkably gentle over his long-time pal Barnes dumping him.\u00a0 (of course he is married to Pat Kavanagh, the agent he lets go.)<\/p>\n

          Actually he saves all his well-founded contempt for the fourth estate to an appendix and a blistering attack on Eric Jacobs, who was to have been KA\u2019s literary biographer, but who noxiously and poisonously and typically could not resist writing things cruel and untrue about the funeral from which he was banned in the Sunday Times.<\/p>\n

          The final theme of the book, the dreadful murder of his niece Lucy Partington,\u00a0 by the foul serial killer Frederick West, a recurring and dreadful theme, as she was missing for several years before the truth, and then mercifully not all of it, finally emerged, reaches its culmination in the permission of his Aunt to write about poor Lucy, only after she has seen his youngest daughter and seen her own daughter in her.\u00a0 The recurring healing power of children\u2026<\/p>\n

          (The cowardly brutal evil West commits suicide in Winson Green Prison, suicide being an occasional theme in this book, as also wickedness itself, which culminates in a visit to Auschwitz. )<\/p>\n

          This is a loving and remarkable book, from a brilliant man, and a loving father.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          I also read further on my I Pad<\/p>\n

          The Missing of the Somme\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Geoff Dyer<\/h2>\n

          Which I find fascinating as he is writing about the perception of the Great War, in its poetry and novels and monuments, as much as his own fascination with the utter horror of trench warfare.\u00a0 I was drawn back \u00a0to it by having seen the magnificent production of Warhorse<\/em> which we saw in London.\u00a0 It\u2019s a very fine book, and his observations are telling and interesting, particularly his theme of Remembrance and Remembering, and his description of the outpouring of public monument building in the twelve short years before the World was at it again.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Behind Closed Doors\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hugo Vickers<\/h2>\n

          The tragic, untold story of the Duchess of Windsor, which seems neither tragic nor untold.\u00a0 Behind Closed Bores would be more accurate as he writes at enormous length and whenever possible about himself and his very minor role in the funeral of Edward and George.\u00a0 I shall probably dip a bit again some other year in Provence as I never found anything very interesting and there must be something interesting in here.\u00a0\u00a0 It seems pathetically royalist.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wallis Simpson, the less you know of her the more fascinating she is.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          I also began to read this, after our brief overnight visit to Dodington Park, built by Codrington, commencing in the 1780\u2019s.<\/p>\n

          The Sugar Barons\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Matthew Parker<\/h2>\n

          This is a tale of the West Indies and how immense profits came into the hands of those entrepreneurs and slave owning families, when Sugar was the Oil of the 18th<\/sup> Century, the cause of wars and fortunes.\u00a0 I shall probably leave it here in France to return to another year (non D.V)<\/p>\n

          Actually I took it with me on my travels, but eventually abandoned it.\u00a0 Not because it wasn\u2019t interesting, but because it wasn\u2019t gripping.\u00a0 And it should be.\u00a0 Also there is a kind of general acceptance of slavery without the complete horror of the state and practise.\u00a0\u00a0 This may be a severe criticism of what is an interesting book, but I\u2019m trying to explain why I suddenly lost interest.\u00a0 The tales of the islands \u2013 particularly the sides taken by Cavaliers and Roundheads during Cromwellian times are funny.\u00a0 A continuation of a very British quarrel in the West Indies.\u00a0\u00a0 The sheer death and destruction and plunder and greed and piracy (buccaneering!) is breath taking.\u00a0 The\u00a0 constant invasion of other islands.\u00a0 The bringing of hell to Paradise, the massacres of civilians, the death and destruction of huge invading forces, victims of disease and lack of water, planning and supply, all a far cry from the cricket playing Paradises of sandy beaches and sunsets\u2026.<\/p>\n

          The Auschwitz Violin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maria Angels Anglada<\/h2>\n

          As fine a written a short novella as you could ever wish to read.\u00a0 A kind of magical tale of an Auschwitz victim, prisoner, saved through his unlikely skill of being an expert violin maker.\u00a0 That odd conjunction of pure evil with the sublime.\u00a0\u00a0 Just great.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          And finally in New York\u00a0 October 2nd<\/sup> thru 8th<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Byron in Love\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edna O\u2019Brien<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          A Short Daring Life.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          A wonderful mad cap dash through the incredible and hilarious and at times farcical life of this not very nice man.\u00a0\u00a0 I really enjoyed it.\u00a0 He was a kind of Regency rock star and as Caroline Lamb said \u201cMad, bad and dangerous to know.\u201d\u00a0 Buy it and read in amazement.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Tiny Terror\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Todd Schultz\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>Why Truman Capote (almost) wrote Answered Prayers<\/p>\n

          A psychobiography of Truman Capote.\u00a0 This is a form of biography I was unaware of and I must say I like it.\u00a0 It makes a lot of sense, taking primal scenes from the life of the author and seeing how these themes work out in the pattern of their lives.\u00a0\u00a0 Here his theme is whatever made Capote so crazy as to turn round and bite all those rich and famous upper crust people in New York by exposing them in the incomplete fragments of Answered Prayers<\/em>.\u00a0 His fancy Society friends dropped him overnight, and never spoke to him again, yet he must have anticipated this.\u00a0 Apparently not.\u00a0 There is much sense and sensibility about his relationship with Perry Smith, the gayer of the two murderers of In Cold Blood, <\/em>\u00a0a book which cost him years of effort and pain and work, at the end of which he had to attend the executions of his two protagonists, (at their request) which he bravely and painfully did.\u00a0 Watching two men who had become friends (and questionably lovers) be hanged in front of your eyes, well you can<\/p>\n

          see why the alcoholic drug laden path lay ahead, poor man.\u00a0 He was an incomparable talent.\u00a0 I happen to love Breakfast at Tiffany\u2019s<\/em> and I have a great deal of guilty pleasure in Answered Prayers <\/em>\u00a0and I very much liked this short psychobiography in a series into which I shall dip further.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Rogue\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joe McGinniss\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>Searching for the Real Sarah Palin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

          A total pleasure.\u00a0 Everything you had ever suspected about the housewife superstar. Read and enjoy folks.\u00a0 I\u2019d describe it as a guilty pleasure but since I have no religion I have no guilt.\u00a0 If only someone had done this job on the fledgling Bush think of the harm that could have been spared.\u00a0 No Iraq war, no Bush recession, no shrill voices demanding smaller government while bankrupting the country\u2026\u00a0 Sarah Palin believes in God.\u00a0 It would be unkind to wonder whether God believes in Sarah Palin.\u00a0\u00a0 People who believe they are chosen by God are worrying.\u00a0 It is one of the signs of madness.\u00a0 Joe McGinniss should be thanked for risking his life by living next door to this vindictive couple and their dysfunctional family.\u00a0\u00a0 They could have been the Dysfunctional First Family.\u00a0 Not any more I trust.\u00a0 I laughed and cringed out loud.\u00a0 Enjoy!<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.<\/p>\n

          The above Published on the web site<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

          Mid October, November.<\/h1>\n

          \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          The Fear Index\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Harris. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n


          \n<\/em><\/strong>Sadly this book fails to catch fire. It’s supposed to be a thriller, a digital world thriller about a schizophrenic billionaire in Switzerland who has invented an algorithm which predicts and eventually controls the stock market bringing about a crash. But this H. G. Wells world of out of control machines controlling the financial future of the Wall Street never quite rings true, it all reads like a film. the point about the novel is it is still the best form of story-telling that gets inside the minds of the characters. Yes fine actors can imply what a character is thinking, and with music and close ups that is certainly possible, but nothing is quite so good at telling us what a person thinks, and incidentally what the author thinks of what that person thinks, than the novel. So that when the characters are cardboard thin, and the emphasis is mainly on what happens next, then the experience of reading is thin, as here. In a real action novel, a detective or thriller for example , the best thing to do is to strip away all adjectives and keep only minimal scene description, and concentrate on short sentences that describe physical activity (see Thomas Perry who is very good at this). Harris is fatally wounded by his attempt to write a good book at the same time. Also he falls into a trap of his own cleverness, with technology, so we who do not share his cleverness, kinda skip the tech bits.
          \nI think The Ghost is a very good book (In the US The Ghost Writer) and not half a bad movie either, because it was about something, the appalling smugness and self centered behavior of Tony Blair, a man who seems but little to know himself let alone the appalling consequences of his actions, so that he is a tragic figure, a man who could have been Pitt, who turns into the pits.
          \nHarris’ other books I found difficult to read. I did get through Pompeii, but I abandoned Lustrum. Of course he is a best seller, and this will be a big hit, so it doesn’t matter to him, but it matters to me, as some writers can pull off popularity and greatness and that is surely the goal. So sadly I think you can skip this.<\/p>\n

          Whatever it is I don\u2019t like it\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Howard Jacobson<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          Yay.\u00a0 I loved this.\u00a0 I felt very guilty about not loving his Booker winning novel, but this made me very happy indeed.\u00a0\u00a0 Not only is he very very funny, he is also wise, and gently provocative, milking sacred cows, exposing clich\u00e9s and shabby and \u201ccorrect\u201d thinking.\u00a0 There\u2019s a lifetime of wisdom in these occasional pieces.\u00a0 I can only recommend you buy three copies and give two to a friend.\u00a0 (A tried this for Christmas and Amazon is shockingly out of print.)\u00a0 And yes I will try his last novel again\u2026<\/h3>\n

          \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          Boomerang\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Lewis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          He seems to be the clear sensible voice explaining the void that was Wall Street.\u00a0 Now he explains the meaning of the imminent third world debt, Greece, Ireland, Spain.\u00a0\u00a0 A house of cards ready to collapse.\u00a0\u00a0 His clear and concise prose helps one through the unbelievable murky miasma of what began as a US Ponzi scheme, and which seems to have ruined the world, through teaching Wall Street Greed.\u00a0\u00a0 Though in the Greeks case a well-deserved exception may be made.\u00a0 A people so corrupt and so entitled, well, not much of a chance they\u2019ll change, so they\u2019ll default\u2026<\/h3>\n

          The Cat\u2019s Table\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Ondaatje<\/h2>\n

          A boy, called Michael, at the age of eight, leaves Sri Lanka, Ceylon, to voyage to a new life at an English boarding school.<\/h3>\n

          Pure\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Andrew Miller<\/h2>\n

          Interesting, rather finely written, historical novel, of a young man in 1785 given the task of digging up and destroying an ancient cemetery (les Innocents), finding himself, his love, his friends, almost death.\u00a0 It\u2019s an almost Booker.<\/h3>\n

          No One Left To Lie To\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Hitchins<\/h2>\n

          The Values of the Worst Family<\/em><\/p>\n

          The incomparable Hitchens takes on the impossible Clintons.\u00a0\u00a0 Far more here than an objection to their style, or his endless womanizing.\u00a0 Seen here Clinton appears more of a serial female abuser that one had cared to think.\u00a0\u00a0 Including a pair of possible rapes.\u00a0 Fine-tuned hatred, like a blow torch.\u00a0\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t care to find Hitchins on your ass.\u00a0 Is it the whole story?\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s whole enough.<\/p>\n

          Blink\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Malcolm Gladwell<\/h2>\n

          Another of his most interesting pop psychology books, this one about the power of instant decision making, and the need to trust that first impression, whether it be judging an art fake (which comes complete with provenance) or choosing cellists (preferably blindfold, or they are always men!)\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0De Becker respectfully referenced.<\/p>\n

          A Sport and a Pastime\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Salter<\/h2>\n

          Short stories.<\/p>\n

          A Death in Summer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Benjamin Black<\/h2>\n

          John Banville writing as Benjamin Black.\u00a0\u00a0 A new Quirke Dublin Mystery.\u00a0 But not a very good one.\u00a0\u00a0 I think Black\u2019s work is affecting Banville\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0 Certainly not as good as the previous Quirke\u2019s.\u00a0 This time Dublin is having a heat wave\u2026. But the usual murky suspects to a suicide of a wealthy businessman or is it murder?\u00a0 The victim\u2019s odd French wife has an affair with Quirke.\u00a0 Never really believable.<\/p>\n

          Poison Flower\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

          Now this is how you write a mystery.\u00a0\u00a0 Not a word too many, never a dull moment.\u00a0 Not stooping to conquer.\u00a0 Not a pretence that you could write a Prize Winner,\u00a0 this is simply fabulous.\u00a0\u00a0 I read the first half all the way to Chicago and the second all the way back.\u00a0\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t put it down.\u00a0 Utterly engrossing.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s a Jane Whitefield novel.\u00a0\u00a0 She is the Seneca Indian who helps people escape into new lives.\u00a0\u00a0 This one even ratchets the temperature up higher.\u00a0 If this is your first, do yourself a favour and read your way to here.\u00a0\u00a0 All of his books are wonderful.\u00a0\u00a0 This is an advance copy and is not published until next March.\u00a0 I cannot wait for the next.<\/p>\n

          Poems\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Larkin<\/h2>\n

          Collected by Martin Amis.<\/p>\n

          And incomparable.<\/p>\n

          I Want It Now\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kingsley Amis<\/h2>\n

          Fabulous 1968 First Edition Amis, at his finest.\u00a0 Here a TV host pursues the weird daughter of the wealthy, winning her on his own merits.\u00a0 In many ways more readable even than Lucky Jim<\/em>.<\/p>\n

          Sons and Lovers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 D. H. Lawrence.<\/h2>\n

          Picked up a 1922 Modern Edition Library in very bad shape and was immediately seduced by the prose.\u00a0 Yes it is a touch too Oedipal but his descriptions of young love, and the anguish it brings to the young is incomparable,\u00a0 I liked him all over again.\u00a0 Paul Morel.\u00a0 Reminded me of discovering him and this book at 16.<\/p>\n

          Reflections on a Marine Venus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lawrence Durrell<\/h2>\n

          Dipped into this pond.\u00a0 A memoir of his two years on Rhodes.<\/p>\n

          Built of Books\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Wright<\/h2>\n

          Is there any sadder sight than the mob waiting outside Oscar Wilde\u2019s house the morning after he was sentenced, to bargain for, to buy at auction, and in some instances purloin his priceless precious library.\u00a0 Wilde could apparently consume a whole book in half an hour and answer detailed questions on it.\u00a0\u00a0 That he was well read is a given, but that he was also an intellectual genius is something I had somehow failed to pick up on.\u00a0 Educated in Ireland by his poet mother, he had the finest classical education, took an effortless first at Oxford, and was probably the finest read English writer since Coleridge.\u00a0 This is a nice idea of a biography, the subject seen through his reading.\u00a0 Of course you couldn\u2019t do George Bush this way\u2026<\/p>\n

          George W. Bush\u00a0 and The Redemptive Dream\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dan P. McAdams<\/h2>\n

          A Psychological Portrait<\/p>\n

          A psychobiography. And perhaps the only sensible way to approach the infant Bush.\u00a0 This way one can read about him without being consumed by hatred.\u00a0 How he became President is such a puzzle, let alone how he could appeal so much to so many, despite fulfilling Gore Vidal\u2019s accurate prediction that he would become the worst President in history.\u00a0 Mind you that\u2019s quite a tough category, there are so many entries in the race. \u00a0I had hoped the Bush recession would remind America not to put an incompetent in charge of the business again, but well, the Tea Party beggar description.\u00a0 Even Evelyn Waugh could not have invented them. They seem invented by Dickens at his most anti-American.\u00a0 (He did get over that by the way, though Martin Chuzzlewit<\/em> and American Notes <\/em>will give you some idea of the fear and loathing stage he went through.)<\/p>\n

          So back to the Bush wars. If you did a portrait of Bush warts and all you\u2019d only have the warts, so at least this psychologically sympathetic book attempts to understand rather than condemn.\u00a0 (A unique idea I know.)<\/p>\n

          The early death of his sister when he was seven (with no parental warning) seems to have been the key element, rather than the Oedipal struggle with his father, whom he loves and idolizes.\u00a0 W comes out as both more pleasant and less na\u00efve than in other portraits, but still, even if we can forget his wars, what he did to the world economy is going to take some surviving.<\/p>\n

          House of Holes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nicholson Baker<\/h2>\n

          A book of raunch.<\/p>\n

          I honestly don\u2019t know what to make of this. \u00a0I think the best way to think of it is comic pornography.\u00a0 The sound of one hand reading.<\/p>\n

          Butterfield 8\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John O\u2019Hara<\/h2>\n

          I found this book at O\u2019Hare, (not O\u2019Hara) and had not realised that this novel either was by O\u2019Hara nor that it was a best seller in 1935.\u00a0\u00a0 Of course for me it will always be linked with the movie starring Elizabeth Taylor and the climactic events that followed my discovery at a Wolverhampton Cinema\u2026.\u00a0 But this book is much better than I had expected.\u00a0\u00a0 Almost a Capote like heroine, perhaps he got his idea for Holly Golightly from this book.\u00a0 Here Gloria is a well raised middle class good time girl adrift in the amoral world of New York Speakeasies in 1930. It\u2019s a kind of sad tale too, as she is pursued by her married lover and accidentally falls off the top of a steam boat to her mangled death.\u00a0\u00a0 The wages of sin and all that.\u00a0 It is noticeable that by the time of Capote it is no longer necessary for a naughty girl to die, but she certainly has to disappear.\u00a0\u00a0 The tone of the book reminded me of the books by that other fine New York novelist whom Gore Vidal so much enjoyed:\u00a0 Dawn Powell.<\/p>\n

          What The Dog Saw\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Malcolm Gladwell<\/h2>\n

          More interesting essays by this most interesting essayist from the New Yorker.\u00a0 Part One is described as Obsessives, Pioneers, and Other Varieties of Minor Genius <\/em>and Part Two as Theories, Predictions and Diagnoses.\u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0He is so interesting.\u00a0 Once his interest has been piqued he will not let go but follows the story.\u00a0 In his fascination with what he describes lies the secret of why he is such fun to read.\u00a0 He is the almost perfect holiday or travel book, topics can be taken up, browsed and discussed.\u00a0 This one was published in 2009.<\/p>\n

          December<\/h1>\n

          The Map and The Territory\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michel Houellebecq<\/h2>\n

          \u201cThe last act of the desperate writer is to introduce himself into his own novel\u2026\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s what I wrote about a Theroux book, and my heart sank as an interesting start turned post-modern with the arrival of the author in the story.\u00a0 But H goes a step further.\u00a0 He has himself murdered in his own novel.\u00a0 Talk about anticipating the critics.\u00a0 Actually he won the Prix Goncourt with this one, and I have enjoyed his previous books, and I really like his writing style, but I found this increasingly irritating. \u00a0I couldn\u2019t wait to find out who dun it, so I dumped it.\u00a0 \u00a0But I picked it up again and read on again\u00a0 The fact is he is a very good writer.\u00a0\u00a0 Did he need to be the victim in his own murder mystery?\u00a0 He actually solves the murder rather well and we then go on into the future to learn of the death of the protagonist, the incredibly successful artist, who helps solve the problem somewhat.\u00a0 Still a bit of a mess, but he does write so darn well, even in translation.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          And talking about the great pretentious European novel, how about this one?<\/p>\n

          The Prague Cemetery\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Umberto Eco<\/h2>\n

          A very large book.\u00a0 I found one chapter absolutely exquisite, deliciously written and I slipped off my shoes for a good read, only to find it stumbling on and on, without shape or plot or direction.\u00a0 I am rather uncomfortable with all the anti-Semitism which I know is meant ironically, well I hope so anyway, and is attempting some kind of history of this sickness, and I like the illustrations, which make the book seem old, but the biography of this person who may or may not be the person who thinks he is or isn\u2019t becomes so confusing that eventually you don\u2019t care.\u00a0 Nice big book, makes a great door stop.<\/p>\n

          Hello Chelsea It\u2019s Me Vodka<\/h2>\n

          On a quick trip to London I read my wife\u2019s guru Chelsea Handler on my I-Fad.\u00a0 She is very funny and witty and totally adorable.<\/p>\n

          Parisians\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Robb<\/h2>\n

          An Adventure History of Paris <\/em><\/p>\n

          I took this as a very good plane read.\u00a0 Robb is not the most gifted of wordsmith\u2019s (I find myself continually re-reading sentences)<\/p>\n

          but he is a good historian and has a smart eye for the story in history.\u00a0\u00a0 Here, many tales of Parisian life (and death).\u00a0 Who knew for instance that Emile Zola was murdered?\u00a0 \u00a0An excellent book for all Francophiles, and\u00a0 a great book for picking up and putting down on travels.\u00a0 I also enjoyed his The Discovery of France<\/em>.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026Published on the web to here.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The A to Z of\u00a0 Hitchens<\/h2>\n

          Read from cover to cover the Quotable Hitchens.\u00a0 A to Z.\u00a0 Fascinating and always quotable on every subject you can think of.\u00a0 He will be remembered.<\/p>\n

          Hollywood Moon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Wambaugh<\/h2>\n

          Is there anything better than being holed up in bed with a good detective story.\u00a0\u00a0 Yes being holed up in bed with a great detective story.\u00a0 This is a wonderful book.\u00a0 I was made very happy by the serio-comic stories of the Hollywood Division.\u00a0 The accurate rendering of the madness that is policing in Hollywood and the extraordinary cops who do it.\u00a0\u00a0 Extraordinary and funny, and just like us.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2010<\/h3>\n

          Ctrl-Alt- 1-2-3<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          January thru March<\/h1>\n

          Arcadia\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Stoppard<\/h2>\n

          Best play ever.\u00a0 I love it<\/p>\n

          Too Much Money\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dominick Dunne<\/h2>\n

          His last posthumous novel and is as usual a closely reworked version of something that actually happened (in this case the Monte Carlo Saffire fire death) set now in Biarritz.\u00a0\u00a0 As with parody often the elusive truth is easier achieved through fiction.<\/p>\n

          The Man Who Loved Books Too Much\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Allison Hoover Bartlett<\/h2>\n

          About a book thief who like all thieves is in denial about theft.\u00a0 Not written well enough to be really good or interesting and she abandons the tale and pursuit of his career in order to publish.\u00a0\u00a0 You see this book at all Book Fairs in order to deter the man himself.<\/p>\n

          Descartes Secret Notebook.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Amir D. Aczel<\/h2>\n

          Everything I needed to know about Descartes:\u00a0 I drink therefore I am.\u00a0 Started last summer and picked up and finished.<\/p>\n

          St. George and the Dragon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Masefield<\/h2>\n

          Bought at Antiquarian Book Fair in Pasadena.\u00a0 A couple of lectures in New York about the British and the horrors of the recently ended 14-18 war.<\/p>\n

          Shampoo Planet\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Douglas Coupland<\/h2>\n

          Like all comedy novels \u2013 starts well but dries up a bit.<\/p>\n

          The Letter From Death\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David J Moats<\/h2>\n

          Research.\u00a0 Nicely written interesting perspective of Death from the viewpoint of Death The character.<\/p>\n

          Picture This\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Heller<\/h2>\n

          An odd fish \u2013 hybrid of biography, art history and novel about the famous painting \u201cAristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer\u201d by Rembrandt.<\/p>\n

          1st<\/sup> Edition.<\/p>\n

          Point Omega\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don DeLillo<\/h2>\n

          Not quite getting him still\u2026.<\/p>\n

          The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh<\/h2>\n

          Picked up First Edition, but still I don\u2019t much care for this tale of the madness of a paranoid elderly writer on a sea voyage who hears voices.<\/p>\n

          Franny and Zooey\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J.D. Salinger<\/h2>\n

          Picked up a battered Library first edition in Walla Walla for ten bucks!<\/p>\n

          The college girl Franny and her truly awful lunch date as she is sweating, passing out and possibly pregnant.\u00a0\u00a0 Direct Scott Fitzgerald descent but then he acknowledges it on Page 3 of Zooey, quoting from Gatsby \u201cwhich was my Tom Sawyer when I was twelve\u201d\u2026\u201dthat everybody suspects himself of having at least one of the Cardinal virtues.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Zooey is narrated by Buddy Glass and is much less good than I remembered.<\/p>\n

          The Godfather of Kathmandu\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Burdett<\/h2>\n

          Despite the violence I love his books.\u00a0 He is a very good tale teller and his wonderful Thai Buddhist detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep is terrific.<\/p>\n

          Marathon Man\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Goldman<\/h2>\n

          Picked up a first edition.\u00a0 Pretty good but the film may be better\u2026<\/p>\n

          England\u2019s Mistress\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kate Williams<\/h2>\n

          The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton.\u00a0\u00a0 A wonderful biography of poor Emma, the supermodel who became a money making star for Romney \u2013 following early whoring, working her way up to Mistress of a nasty MP who gave her to his Uncle the wonderful Hamilton, whom she persuaded to marry and then seduced Nelson and the navy to come to her rescue in Naples, and lived contentedly in a threesome until his untimely death at Trafalgar left her to the mercy of the ungrateful Brits.\u00a0\u00a0 Her attitudes must have been real sexy.\u00a0 Sadly dies in poverty ignored by an ungrateful Nation.<\/p>\n

          The Gulag Archipelago\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn<\/h2>\n

          Lest we forget what we do to each other.\u00a0 Animalis capax Rationis (Swift)<\/h3>\n

          Ronnie\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ronnie Wood<\/h2>\n

          The cute one \u2013 writes quite nicely of his life on the road.<\/p>\n

          Wolf Hall\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hilary Mantel<\/h2>\n

          The Booker Winner and none the worse for that.\u00a0 Not a great book but not a bad one.<\/p>\n

          69 A.D.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gwyn Morgan<\/h2>\n

          The Year of Four Emperors.\u00a0\u00a0 History but not brilliantly written.<\/p>\n

          Plays One:\u00a0 Veterans, Across From The Garden of Allah\u00a0 Charles Wood<\/h2>\n

          I have always loved this first play ever since I saw it with Bob Hoskins Gielgud and John Mills at the Royal Court.<\/p>\n

          Cheating at Canasta\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Trevor<\/h2>\n

          The Doctor\u2019s Wife\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brian Moore<\/h2>\n

          Picked up a first edition.\u00a0 Not my favourite of his.<\/p>\n

          When China Ruled The Seas\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Louise Levathes<\/h2>\n

          The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne 1405 \u2013 1433<\/p>\n

          Empire is what we do.\u00a0 This might just have started the Renaissance.<\/p>\n

          Lord Jim\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Conrad<\/h2>\n

          Wonderful opening.\u00a0\u00a0 Wonderful subject \u2013 the gap between self delusion, illusion, what we hold to be us, flawed character.\u00a0 His finest writing.\u00a0 But the book peters out \u2013 as so many books do.\u00a0\u00a0 The problem is his story of Jim is told second hand \u2013 so he has to contrive later encounters with other witnesses to finish the tale \u2013 which to be honest \u2013 I never did\u2026<\/p>\n

          On Death and Dying\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D.<\/h2>\n

          The five steps\u2026.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

          Easter Vacation –\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Saint Bart\u2019s and New York<\/h1>\n

          March 29th<\/sup> thru April 12th<\/h1>\n

          New Grub Street\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 George Gissing<\/h2>\n

          Anne insisted I try this.\u00a0 On the Sony Reader.<\/p>\n

          An Object of Beauty\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Steve Martin<\/h2>\n

          Read the m\/s of his new illustrated novel about the art world.\u00a0 You learn a lot about paintings and about the people who curate and auction them.\u00a0 Lacy is a kind of Holly Golightly whose story is told by, for once, a non gay friend who adores her from a distance and who is seduced into helping her break the law to make a fortune.\u00a0\u00a0 Steve slightly cheated on this vital plot point, confusing both me and Tania, so we called him on it and he was going to alter it.<\/p>\n

          The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet\u2019s Nest\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stieg Larsson<\/h2>\n

          The third in the Millennium trilogy.\u00a0\u00a0 He turned in all three parts and then died so some editing is actually missing, but he is such a great deliverer of suspenseful plot \u2013 I think almost like Le Carr\u00e9 in the Smiley books.\u00a0 Even at the end he has another twist and an end.<\/p>\n

          Strip Tease\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carl Hiaasen<\/h2>\n

          Always starts well but can\u2019t maintain it for me.\u00a0 His characters are usually quite nasty.\u00a0\u00a0 Not as good as Elmore Leonard.<\/p>\n

          Waterloo.\u00a0 A Near Run Thing.\u00a0 1968\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Howarth<\/h2>\n

          A beautifully written brilliant account of the eve and the day and the destruction of Waterloo.\u00a0 43,000 dead and dying on the battlefield at the end of the day\u2026.The horror, the bravery, the fortune, Napoleon out of it with haemorrhoids and cystitis.\u00a0 Not a good day to be sick\u2026..<\/p>\n

          Howarth uses eyewitnesses from around the battlefield with shifting viewpoints so you feel the gruesome horror of the long drawn out day of bravery and death, whose outcome (thanks to Blucher) changed the world.<\/p>\n

          I am fairly sure I read this before but before I began the book list.<\/p>\n

          Typhoon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Conrad<\/h2>\n

          On Sony Reader<\/p>\n

          Sex With Kings<\/h2>\n

          On Sony Reader.\u00a0 History as People Magazine.\u00a0 OK for a plane.<\/p>\n

          How It Ended.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jay McInerney<\/h2>\n

          This is what I wrote last year.\u00a0 \u201cSometimes when picking up books again, or when continuing to re-read from where I left out they seem a lot better than they had at first appeared to me,\u00a0 These short stories for exam<\/em>ple.\u201d\u00a0 Even more so as I picked up the paperback in New York.\u00a0 \u201cHis themes are betrayal, adultery, the suspicion of love failing, the falling apart of couples, particularly after marriage, childbirth and pregnancy (abortion too: he is a Catholic after all.) He writes of these things honestly and with no squirming or ducking both the selfish search for sexual release and the female hardening of the hearteries.\u00a0 In his work I like the older more mature voice.\u00a0 (Putting Daisy Down) I think he can develop into a great writer, he has the skill, the time and the control.\u00a0\u00a0 Failing to connect, Manhattan man, the pressure of the city \u2013 especially post 911 – and the ennui of the commuters to Connecticut.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0I am even more impressed. He is a great stylist.<\/p>\n

          Closing Time\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Heller<\/h2>\n

          Again desperate for something to read I picked this up again.\u00a0 It has one of the most hilarious opening chapters of any book since Catch 22.\u00a0 This is billed as the sequel.<\/p>\n

          This time I knew I had read this \u2013 my third time.\u00a0 I wrote:<\/p>\n

          \u201cHeller is really funny.\u00a0\u00a0 Yossarian in hospital determined to get the doctors to find out he is really sick though he has no symptoms is a hoot.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Heller keeps doing the negative option \u2013 the funny option in language<\/em> (nonsense?) that we reject as absurd.\u00a0\u00a0 It is a rich vein for him <\/em><\/p>\n

          \u201cHeller is very funny, the funniest of all his contemporary Jewish\/American literary novel writers.\u00a0\u00a0 His contempt for Washington and all human institutions, his knowledge of the depth of corruption of industrial man, his appreciation of greed and self-interest as the major motive of mankind Heller has a Swiftian vision of bureaucracy.\u00a0 Yossarian goes to hospital determined to prove he is sick, despite all evidence to the contrary.\u00a0 Paradox is his field.\u00a0 The Chaplain pees heavy water and is disappeared by the security forces.\u00a0\u00a0 His contempt for \u201cthat prick in the White House.\u00a0\u00a0 He is very Pythonic as he takes the absurd seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

          Sometimes it seems when reading novels this common pursuit can go flat, everything seems dull, stale and unprofitable.\u00a0 Is it me, is it them.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure.\u00a0\u00a0 It began with an awareness that Nostromo<\/strong>, so far from being a great book, was actually rather tedious.\u00a0\u00a0 I had been enjoying re-reading Lord Jim<\/strong>, and was anticipating pleasure \u2013 maybe it was using the Sony Reader \u2013 whose latest incarnation has left everything a dull grey, so different from the nice 1910 rough cloth-bound edition of Lord Jim<\/strong> I had been reading, but I was forced to discard this book on the plane to NY and search in vain amongst one or two of the other things I had loaded \u2013 a dull\u00a0 (Oz) book about Catholicism and masturbation \u2013 surely the only good thing about Catholicism is masturbation, increasing its pleasure by increasing its guilt.\u00a0\u00a0 Who are these papal pederasts and where do they think they fit in \u2013 is it really just a homo-erotic anti-female cult?\u00a0\u00a0 Haven\u2019t they heard about the Universe \u2013 a hundred billion galaxies and no sign of God or heaven yet?<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          On my return from St. Barth\u2019s I searched desperately for reading material \u2013 only to be progressively disillusioned.\u00a0 The new Ian McEwan\u2026<\/p>\n

          Solar\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian McEwan<\/h2>\n

          \u2026turned out to be terrible.\u00a0 I kept picking it up again \u2013 only to chuck it away.\u00a0 It\u2019s like a bad version of Kingsley Amis \u2013 though Amis would never have permitted himself to be so dull, and Michael Beard, the unfortunate scientist, is never as funny as Lucky Jim<\/strong>.\u00a0 Perhaps he is trying to be funny?\u00a0\u00a0 Is this supposed to be humorous,\u00a0\u00a0 It drags on and on and on\u2026<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Paul Theroux\u2019s latest continued the downhill trend in his writing, barely surfacing above geriatric pornography\u2026<\/p>\n

          A Dead Hand\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Theroux<\/h2>\n

          In fact it has claims to be one of the most awful novels ever written\u00a0 (to be challenged by Mrs Dalloway<\/strong>.)\u00a0\u00a0 It all starts off so well \u2013 a blocked writer is invited to solve a mystery \u2013 oh goodie a thriller.\u00a0\u00a0 A step away from the embarrassing porn of his previous.\u00a0 Only young men must write about sex.\u00a0 For the middle aged it is a disaster.\u00a0\u00a0 The last act of the desperate writer is to introduce himself into his own novel and having failed to make a real character out of the desperately unconvincing Mrs Unger, an improbable American who lives in India, worshipping Kali, sacrificing goats, while practising Kundalini sex and giving Tantric massage to the poor fool of a narrator, who is suddenly brought face to face with Paul Theroux.\u00a0 Oh puhleese\u2026 thereby completely killing off belief in the only character we have any faith in.\u00a0 I found myself missing the convincing sexuality of John Burdett, who at least manages to write vigorously about sex, instead of this wishy- washy Hallmark card sentimentality\u2026. And by the way we see the end coming miles and miles away.\u00a0 So no points for Theroux, who has written far too much, and time for him to experience writers block without fucking writing about it\u2026.<\/p>\n

          Mrs Dalloway\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Virginia Woolf<\/h2>\n

          I turned for hope to a first edition which I had picked up in Walla Walla.\u00a0 But alas the same desperate feeling of dullness stole over me that I have always experienced in trying to read this book.\u00a0\u00a0 Oh God.\u00a0 I <\/em><\/strong>am afraid of Virginia Woolf and for very good reasons \u2013 she is dull, tedious and boring.<\/p>\n

          Play It as It Lays\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joan Didion<\/h2>\n

          In desperation I went out and bought a paperback of this, only to experience instant disappointment as time has definitely dated this so called classic.<\/p>\n

          Contact!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jan Morris.<\/h2>\n

          A Book of Encounters.<\/p>\n

          The latest Jan Morris I chucked almost immediately \u2013 being hardly more than excerpts from a diary or commonplace book \u2013 where is the great man\/woman who chronicled so brilliantly the decline of Empire?<\/p>\n

          The Mother Tongue\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bill Bryson<\/h2>\n

          English and how it got that way.<\/p>\n

          Bill Bryson held me for a while with his book on the English language.\u00a0 But still no more than a cleverly rewritten Albert C. Baugh book on English.<\/p>\n

          The Spartacus War\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barry Strauss<\/h2>\n

          And even a lively attempt at Roman history descended into what I call the Mustapha school of historical writing (It musta been a great sight when..)\u00a0 But I might give it another go as the subject is fascinating.<\/p>\n

          The Stories of John Cheever\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Cheever<\/h2>\n

          I finished off the stories of Cheever, though they too went down hill with lots of Roman tales.\u00a0 Still I enjoyed very much this book that Mike Nichols sent me.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Thankfully a new Benjamin Black has come along to replace the temptation to read the latest of his alter ego \u2026and we are now already half way through (what?)<\/p>\n

          April thru May<\/h1>\n

          The Men Who Would Be King\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nicole Laporte<\/h2>\n

          The er.. epic tale of Dreamworks.\u00a0 Jeffery Katzenburg recruits two smart friends to help him fight the bully Eisner.\u00a0 Along the way we see what a thief Jeffery is \u2013 but also how his grim and determined work effort finally paid off \u2013 and despite more flops than a Chicago hooker he finally makes his millions and manages to take all the credit for Shrek.\u00a0 And most of the money from his co-workers.<\/p>\n

          She is not the best writer in the world but it is competently written and readable.\u00a0\u00a0 As Freddie would say \u201cMovies are made by assholes for idiots\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n

          Coriolanus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Shakespeare<\/h2>\n

          Am I missing something?\u00a0\u00a0 This seems to be a very tedious and dull play.\u00a0 In fact who put the anus in Coriolanus?<\/p>\n

          The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mitchell<\/h2>\n

          An extraordinarily fine book.\u00a0\u00a0 A great novel.\u00a0 Picked up on a brief visit to UK.\u00a0 He is our Chabon.\u00a0\u00a0 The best contemporary writer in action today.<\/p>\n

          I can\u2019t believe he didn\u2019t make the short list for the Booker.\u00a0 Clearly the best novel in English since his last.<\/p>\n

          The Pregnant Widow\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/h2>\n

          I supposed he might be challenged a bit by Amis who seems to be getting better and better.\u00a0\u00a0 This is a very good novel indeed about the early days of Keith Nearing (his thinly disguised attack on himself ) in the 70\u2019s in a castle in Italy on a summer vacation.\u00a0 He flashes forward to modern times and it is a very effective device, a revelation of development and character and life as it is experienced.<\/p>\n

          Ether\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evgenia Citkowitz<\/h2>\n

          Seven stories and a novella by Julian Sand\u2019s wife.\u00a0 I was bowled over by her writing, her grasp of character and her ability to convey depth precisely and simply.\u00a0\u00a0 I have been reading a lot of short stories and it seems to me that she is as good if not better than Cheever, and I have bought tons of them to distribute amongst friends, which is a rare thing and always a sign I really like a book.\u00a0 Get it.<\/p>\n

          Private Lives\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Noel Coward<\/h2>\n

          It seems so artificial.\u00a0 Contrived theatre.\u00a0 Intellectual farce from the middle class.\u00a0 Noel, a self re-invented working class boy, writing for \u201cNoel\u201d the darling of Broadway.\u00a0\u00a0 The interesting bits for me are the actual physical violence between the lovers, which seems real, drunk, and written from somewhere true and honest but Coward is always trying to create a glittering carapace of golden wit behind which he can perhaps hide \u2013 not unlike another working class laddie who admires some of his lyrics beyond belief.<\/p>\n

          Memento Mori\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          Spoken of as her greatest work \u2013 but not by me.\u00a0 An old lady Dame Lettie is badgered by phone calls reminding her that she must die.\u00a0\u00a0 Indeed she must \u2013she is brutally and unexpectedly and shockingly bludgeoned to death about two thirds of the way through the book.\u00a0 These phone calls spread alarm and panic and disquiet amongst the beautifully drawn generation of elderly people who were once the smart set of London.\u00a0 Now confined by the restraints of age they await the truth of the message of the phone calls \u201cYou are going to die.\u201d\u00a0 Unfortunately we never learn who is making the phone calls or why, so that the end is terribly unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n

          Game Change\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Heilemann\u00a0 & Mark Halperin<\/h2>\n

          Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin and The Race of a Lifetime.<\/p>\n

          Very readable, nicely written recent history, fascinating for its portrayal of the major characters in a vital election.\u00a0 Hilary and the strange blood bond between the Clintons is fascinating.\u00a0 Obama nothing short of a great hero, and the off-hand choice of the quite appalling beauty Queen Palin shows what a weak and arrogant leader McCain would have made.\u00a0 America can breathe again\u2026.<\/p>\n

          Oprah\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A Biography\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kitty Kelly<\/h2>\n

          Yes.\u00a0 Well what can you say?\u00a0 Never dull.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have any quarrel with Oprah self re-inventing herself from the promiscuous pregnant young molested teenager.\u00a0\u00a0 Good for her.\u00a0 Of course later on she becomes a bit of a monster, but she uses her power largely for good, and without her there is no Obama.\u00a0 The way she conquers the white middle class wives of Chicago changes the whole racial attitude in America.\u00a0 A fascinating tale of the rise and rise of an extraordinary female.\u00a0 And who cares if she is gay or Steadman\u2019s gay, or if anyone is gay\u2026 that is still a lingering prejudice (a cunning lingering prejudice?)<\/p>\n

          Elegy for April\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Benjamin Black<\/h2>\n

          Another grey thriller from Black:\u00a0 the pseudonym of John Banville.\u00a0 Not bad.<\/p>\n

          June<\/h1>\n

          David Rizzio and Mary Queen of Scots\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Tweedie<\/h2>\n

          Murder at Holyrood.\u00a0\u00a0 A not particularly well written gallop through the facts of this amazing scene from history \u2013 sadly he is not really up to the job.<\/p>\n

          Imperial Bedrooms\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bret Easton Ellis<\/h2>\n

          Ok Jay McInerney is the real thing.\u00a0 Brett Easton Ellis isn\u2019t.\u00a0 He knows what it is but he can\u2019t do it.\u00a0\u00a0 This is like a minimalist revisit of a minimal novel he wrote some time ago. Nothing wrong with it.\u00a0 Except expectation.\u00a0 That killer level where you have set your own bar and you have to jump it again.<\/p>\n

          Hitch 22\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Hitchens<\/h2>\n

          A memoir.\u00a0\u00a0 Revealing more about the young rather fey self righteous lefty than the more interesting man who crossed over to America to discover more of himself and to lead a sensible life.\u00a0\u00a0 He loves the literary crack \u2013 and his pals are all interesting \u2013 Amis, pere et fils, Fenton etc,\u00a0 He seems rather dangerous to me \u2013 has that weird Gore Vidal ability to insist on being the drunkest and most argumentative man in the room.<\/p>\n

          Cleopatra and Anthony\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Diana Preston<\/h2>\n

          Power, Love and Politics in the Ancient World.\u00a0\u00a0 Nice history well told.\u00a0 I had not realised the amount of time that lapsed after the death of Caesar before the final showdown.\u00a0 Anthony out manoeuvred by the shrewd Augustus.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Summer Reading<\/h1>\n

          July 4th<\/sup> thru September 12th<\/p>\n

          Tender is the Night.\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald<\/h2>\n

          1960\u2019s paperback edition of the 1933 novel which I found in the Library of Friar Park when my selected travel books proved disappointing.\u00a0 My third go at this novel and this time I really enjoyed it.\u00a0\u00a0 It seems so honest and real.\u00a0\u00a0 About Doctor Diver the psychiatrist and his wife the schizophrenic Nicole.\u00a0\u00a0 It begins at Gausse\u2019s Hotel in Juan Les Pins, where we are going shortly to celebrate Lily\u2019s 20th<\/sup> birthday.<\/p>\n

          Humboldt\u2019s Gift\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saul Bellow<\/h2>\n

          In his autobiography that weird chap Hitchens recommended this.\u00a0\u00a0 I was rather enjoying it but then got disrupted on my travels.\u00a0 Sadly the Hitch seems to be dying.\u00a0 So he was wrong about cigarettes at least.\u00a0 Actually the weirdest thing is in the current edition of Vanity Fair he writes about how he persuaded a young woman to wear a mask of Martin Amis and then fucked her!\u00a0\u00a0 Oy vey.\u00a0\u00a0 That sort of thing you might want to keep quiet.\u00a0\u00a0 I suspected from his bio he was closety.\u00a0 But if he goes he will be sorely missed.\u00a0\u00a0 Twice I tried to read this and twice I put it aside.\u00a0\u00a0 Second time I didn\u2019t even get to the first point I abandoned.\u00a0\u00a0 Can\u2019t quite see what Hitchens sees.\u00a0\u00a0 Is it the young successful and famous prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of the more seriously good poet?\u00a0\u00a0 I found the prose in the end dull and it\u2019s easy to chuck.<\/p>\n

          Hitch 22\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Hitchens\u00a0 (duplicate)<\/h2>\n

          I see I haven\u2019t yet included this, though I think I simply haven\u2019t updated on the lap top.<\/p>\n

          But there is something slightly pouty about the chap and the endless left wing bollocks.<\/p>\n

          It\u2019s perfectly natural to be lefty when young \u2013 you are busy rejecting shit \u2013 and yet communism was always<\/em> a step too far.\u00a0 I could understand it somewhat in the Orwell generation who went off to fight Franco \u2013 but really after WW2 and the Stalin\/Hitler pact to have any time at all for Uncle Joe is a terrible error of judgment.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hitchens is more entertaining when he perversely becomes a Yank during the Bush wars \u2013 but even then who the hell could do that at such a time?\u00a0\u00a0 And he hung around with some of the really unpleasant people who ran Iraq.\u00a0 He is drawn to tyrants of all kinds, pro and anti.\u00a0\u00a0 But his polemical books against religion are a revelation.\u00a0 This is just slightly disappointing.<\/p>\n

          The Boss Dog\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 MFK Fisher<\/h2>\n

          About a Provencal dog who haunts the caf\u00e9s of Aix.\u00a0 A children\u2019s book of some charm.\u00a0 But I only read the first.\u00a0 I should give it to Pierre for his son.\u00a0 (I did)<\/p>\n

          Operation Mincemeat\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ben Macintyre<\/h2>\n

          The retelling of The Man Who Never Was.\u00a0 I kept putting it down as he keeps delaying the story.\u00a0\u00a0 In the end it\u2019s too discursive or he fails to write grippingly enough.\u00a0\u00a0 Disappointing.\u00a0\u00a0 Still might dip into the end parts.<\/p>\n

          Koba The Dread.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/h2>\n

          Laughter and the Twenty Million.<\/p>\n

          The Book of the summer (MORE)<\/p>\n

          This book is so good it should be taught in schools,\u00a0\u00a0 The nightmare psycho Stalin is of the type of madman who kills those closest to him.\u00a0 Beware if you were Georgian or if ever you knew him.\u00a0\u00a0 Possibly murders his wife, certainly murders thirty million of his fellow citizens on a quota system (Oy how scary is that?)\u00a0 to prove that his Agricultural policy is working, amongst other things, or simply terrorising the middle classes out of existence, the cry of the ill educated thug everywhere. (Hello Mr Mao, Hello Polly Pot.)<\/p>\n

          Sex & Stravinsky\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barbara Trapido<\/h2>\n

          Very disappointing.\u00a0\u00a0 A fine opening in the 70\u2019s when Josh the squatter meets Caroline the blonde Australian Goddess, but soon they are terrorised by her mother \u201cthe wicked witch\u201d and it becomes the evil step mother story, for at the end Caroline discovers she is adopted and the ungrateful woman has plundered all her love and money.\u00a0 Her revenge is amusing, dumping her in a Sainsbury\u2019s rubbish skip, but nevertheless we are appalled by their 20 year passivity with this demanding sociopathic\u00a0 monster and her own daughter\u2019s exchange trip to France is literally yuck making.\u00a0\u00a0 At the end they all swap partners which is her version of\u00a0 a happy ending\u2026.<\/p>\n

          London, the biography\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter Ackroyd<\/h2>\n

          Starts off brilliantly with a geological history of London, and then the Celts and then the Romans, but by early medieval it is getting pretty draggy and slipping into the Mustava type of history (it must \u2019ave been a fine sight).\u00a0 Will see how it goes.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Summer reading\u00a0 is both more and less demanding.\u00a0\u00a0 A good bad book will keep you happier longer than a bad good book.\u00a0\u00a0 I have been tossing the latter at a great rate of knots.\u00a0 The holiday mood is whimsical, seeks constant diversion.\u00a0 I have a constant mind to be somewhere else, or perhaps doing something else.\u00a0\u00a0 Should I be visiting Salernes market? (For what?)\u00a0\u00a0 Ought I to be playing guitar? (ok, why not?)<\/p>\n

          A few possibly fine books have become victims of this including:<\/p>\n

          Not to Disturb\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          A certain kind of Muriel Spark book fails to interest me.\u00a0\u00a0 Almost invariably they are about cults or semi religious bodies, usually involving sex, pregnancy and religion.\u00a0 None of them interest me.\u00a0\u00a0 Iris Murdoch is the same.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Why do they do this?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I may well have tried to read this before and simply got to the same point and ejected.<\/p>\n

          Moab is My Washpot\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Fry<\/h2>\n

          The same response. \u00a0Perhaps I tried before.\u00a0\u00a0 Maybe it is the image of the satisfied schoolboy that shrieks out phoney.\u00a0\u00a0 It is I suppose inconceivable for me to consider some boys would be happy at school at seven.\u00a0 They would probably have to have had a brother to protect them and\u00a0 be gay.\u00a0 Since this volume of memoirs is all about school, and public school at that, it fails to incite my interest, and joins the Moab is my tosspot pile\u2026<\/p>\n

          In Hazard\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Hughes<\/h2>\n

          Not so this one which I preferred to Conrad!\u00a0\u00a0 I know \u2013 heresy!\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s just he writes so well and also informatively about a ship stuck in a hurricane in the West Indies.\u00a0\u00a0 You could lift his description of the cause of hurricanes almost verbatim.\u00a0\u00a0 It is the best scientific prose description of a physical phenomenon I have ever read.<\/p>\n

          The Misogynist\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Piers Paul Read<\/h2>\n

          The problem is not that it isn\u2019t nice but that it is the same.\u00a0\u00a0 Things happen, new people are introduced but the story doesn\u2019t spring forward\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – we know precisely the same thing about Jomier \u2013 that he is old, that he is still bitter about his first wife betraying him thirty five years later!\u00a0\u00a0 Also when given the opportunity for a younger lover he would far rather live alone that share a Viagra life with her.\u00a0\u00a0 In the end his relentless self-disparagement convinces you that he is an uninteresting old whiner.\u00a0 So for all the early acute perceptions of feminism and the DNA role of the male, and his delightful skewering of the American pro-Zionist right, you are less than interested in his tale.\u00a0 It\u2019s loser writing.<\/p>\n

          Lunar Park\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bret Easton Ellis.<\/h2>\n

          Got fed up in the same place.\u00a0 When his dealer comes to his party.\u00a0 Bright start.\u00a0 Did not complete the re-read<\/p>\n

          David Mamet\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Theatre<\/h2>\n

          Not as interesting as I had supposed but I did not get very far.<\/p>\n

          Northanger Abbey\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jane Austen<\/h2>\n

          A prototype novel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 With many common themes and characters but none as fully developed or as successful as they will become.\u00a0 The lead character Catherine Morland is ridiculously na\u00efve and entertains Gothic visions of her lover\u2019s father murdering and locking up his wife \u2013 which borders on the insanely paranoid \u2013 though we are assured she is only parodying contemporary Gothic novels which were then all the rage.\u00a0 Only the bitchy hypocritical wonderful self-justifying utterly selfish character of Isabella Thorpe, who seduces her brother, successfully comes to life.<\/p>\n

          The Anatomy Lesson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

          A study in pain \u2013 the writer in neck pain and guilt at his Portnoy like success, can only shag women and take increasingly powerful drugs, which leads him to overreact against a critic of his work.\u00a0\u00a0 Not a complete success or as good as he gets.<\/p>\n

          Out of Africa\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Isak Dinesen<\/h2>\n

          Nicely written but not a patch on that other great African memoir (Into the West, by Markham)<\/p>\n

          Dipped into and could dip again as I didn\u2019t read very far.<\/p>\n

          LaBrava\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          Tempted to re read but then didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

          Shadow Woman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

          The last one of his I hadn\u2019t read yet and as engrossing and thrilling and page turning as ever.\u00a0 A Jane Whitefield novel.\u00a0\u00a0 In this one she marries Carey \u2013 and sets off to hide a Vegas pit boss on the run \u2013 in danger of being eliminated by his security boss (Calvin Seaver) who hires two psychotic killers, Earl and Linda (she sexually winds him up to kill by getting close and attempting to seduce Jane\u2019s new husband Carey).\u00a0 Pursued into the Montana mountains by dogs and escaping only by the (Indian) good will of a Grizzlie, she shoots Earl, plants a sniper rifle on Seaver, traces their LA lair where she discovers the identity of Linda and races back just in time to prevent her eliminating her good and innocent doctor.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (omit the plot)<\/p>\n

          I am pretty sure I read and very much enjoyed this next Philip Roth about this time because I got into a correspondence with Nicholas Meyer about how much I had enjoyed it, without realising that he had adapted the screenplay, the final result of which he hated.\u00a0 I reconstruct the notes I found in the back of my paperback copy in France.)<\/h3>\n

          The Human Stain\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

          Almost a perfect book, but like so many others he can\u2019t finish it.\u00a0 It goes on, turning into an essay on everything we have just enjoyed.\u00a0 All because he needs to write a final scene on the ice with the murderer of his hero.\u00a0 But it resolves nothing and feels almost like an afterthought.\u00a0 I found this novel gripping and brilliantly written, its major surprising conceit sudden and unexpected \u2013 when the hero reveals that he is in fact black-\u00a0 which we hadn\u2019t seen coming.\u00a0 But I stopped reading at exactly the point the story ends and went back only to discover why he continued.\u00a0\u00a0 I still don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

          (This is signed off Salgues, 10th<\/sup> August 2010.)<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

          Return to School via\u00a0 Bristol, Bath, London, Copenhagen, Malmo, London, Edinburgh, London, LA\u2026. September 2010<\/h1>\n

          The Last Tycoon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald.<\/h2>\n

          Read on the plane flying from London to LA.\u00a0\u00a0 Interesting because of the notes and the insights into how much work he put into constructing his novels and characters.\u00a0 His writing seems to come effortlessly to him but here we see that there is indeed a great deal of effort in it and he is harshly self-critical.\u00a0 He writes \u201cOnly Fair\u201d opposite one paragraph.\u00a0 These notes in many ways are more valuable than the unfinished novel because they show the artist in mid brush stroke.\u00a0 The only thing I don\u2019t find convincing on re-reading is the narrator \u2013 the female character Cecilia.\u00a0\u00a0 Does he ever try and inhabit another female narrator?\u00a0 She doesn\u2019t really come alive for me.\u00a0 I still love the Pat Hobby stories for the shabby view of Hollywood, but here you see that Fitzgerald was seen and appreciated for what he is, when he first went to Hollywood.\u00a0 Stahr really knows him and appreciates him.<\/p>\n

          \u201cThere are no second acts in American lives.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Does he use this elsewhere?\u00a0 What exactly did he mean? Certainly no second act for Monroe Stahr who goes down in flames.<\/h3>\n

          \u201cAction is character.\u201d\u00a0 I like this, certainly true of the movies, though I vaguely remember something similar from E. M. Forster (Aspects of the Novel?)<\/h3>\n

          The Following Story\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cees Nooteboom<\/h2>\n

          I think I liked it, but how quickly one forgets\u2026. Dutch writer.<\/p>\n

          Invisible\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Auster<\/h2>\n

          A brilliant and artfully constructed novel and certainly my favourite of his so far.\u00a0\u00a0 It is thrilling and gripping, but also beautifully written.\u00a0 Highly recommended!<\/p>\n

          Our Kind of Traitor\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

          And I really enjoyed this new John Le Carr\u00e9 \u2013 of two innocents abroad falling into the maws of an expansive Russian mob character, desperate to flee with his family to the UK, for whom they act as go betweens with MI6.\u00a0 Tennis playing Brit lecturer and his lawyer girlfriend, at Roland Garros for Federer final and then Switzerland for the climax.\u00a0\u00a0 Will be good TV or movie.<\/p>\n

          A Royal Passion\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Katie Whitaker<\/h2>\n

          A great book of history written by excellent young Cambridge scholar.\u00a0 Highly readable story of the weirdo Charles 1st<\/sup> and his extremely Catholic French wife Henrietta Maria, and how her religiosity, and his stupidly wavering arrogance led to the Civil War and ultimately his execution.\u00a0 Though in many ways that was the finest thing he did.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 His second son would also be thrown off the throne\u2026.(James 2nd<\/sup>) in the Glorious Revolution, where he was dumped by his daughter for turning Catholic.<\/p>\n

          Finally followed by the dip shit proto Nazi Edward V111.<\/p>\n

          Portraits in Miniature\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lytton Strachey<\/h2>\n

          Essays by my favourite historian.<\/p>\n

          Found a 1931 first edition, signed by The Author.<\/p>\n

          He writes briefly and very well about people like Voltaire and Boswell, and Historians such as Hume and Gibbon.\u00a0 Lovely stuff.\u00a0 It\u2019s because he is so gossipy and campy without being cutting or Queenly and yet his judgement is fair and accurate.\u00a0\u00a0 He sympathises with humanity.<\/p>\n

          The Informant\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

          \u201cI am covered with guilt and confusion that I never wrote to tell you how much I enjoyed your latest The Informant.\u00a0 I had one of those flu\u2019s at Christmas time that was considerably improved and made enjoyable by your book which I tore through as usual.\u00a0 Thank you so much and please forgive the memory loss, which is actually a good thing, because I can now re-read books much sooner, having forgotten everything immediately\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

          A pre-publication present from his daughter Alex, which I devoured in bed during the Christmas flu Season.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2009<\/h2>\n

          Ctrl-Alt- 1-2-3<\/p>\n

          December<\/h1>\n

          A Moveable Feast\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ernest Hemingway<\/h2>\n

          Quick re-read of a nice first US edition I picked up in Pasadena.\u00a0 He\u2019s not really very nice<\/em> Hemingway is he?\u00a0\u00a0 Of course this book is invaluable for the amusing, bitchy and gossipy things he writes about Gertrude Stein (what was Alice B. doing to her upstairs that he couldn\u2019t stay??\u00a0 )\u00a0 and about Scott Fitzgerald.\u00a0 He is very clear that Zelda is bonkers and the problem.\u00a0 Nice to see this old fashioned view clearly stated, rather than the PC troubled feminist genius who was behind it all really\u2026.\u00a0 (See Mrs Shakespeare\u2026.)<\/p>\n

          Enormous Changes at the Last Minute\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Grace Paley<\/h2>\n

          And I picked up a second hand paperback of this to re-read.\u00a0 I remembered it as something from the sixties and seventies I had enjoyed.<\/p>\n

          Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age\u00a0 Bohumil Hrabal<\/h2>\n

          Picked up from Mr B\u2019s bookshop in Bath.\u00a0 It\u2019s all written in one sentence and like much experimental writing is finally too damn hard to read.\u00a0 But I love this writer.<\/p>\n

          The Wanderers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Price<\/h2>\n

          When I was running out of things to read Michael Chabon suggested Richard Price.\u00a0 He is very good.\u00a0 I like the more recent ones since he worked on The Wire!<\/p>\n

          Strip\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

          Thomas sent us his latest novel which comes out next May.\u00a0\u00a0 I didn\u2019t get into it quite so much as I did and I\u2019d like to figure out whether it was the flu or the novelist.\u00a0\u00a0 I think his writing is in a state of transition, and this is moving to a different kind of writing but I need to look back and see quite where I felt it became disconnected.<\/p>\n

          The Madoff Chronicles\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brian Ross<\/h2>\n

          A quick coverage of the field.\u00a0 Fascinating of course.\u00a0 His fatalism is very interesting \u2013 once underway there was really no way for him to get out. He had to keep going until eventual shame and discovery.\u00a0 So like Mr. Merdle in Our Mutual Friend (Dorrit?) though Madoff doesn\u2019t have the balls to top himself.<\/p>\n

          September thru November\u00a0 2009<\/h1>\n

          Coleridge:\u00a0\u00a0 Darker Reflections\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Holmes<\/h2>\n

          Part two of a phenomenal poetic<\/em> biography \u2013 and that is the key \u2013 his reading and interpretation and quotation from this unruly genius \u2013 makes him an unparalleled interpretive poet in his own right.\u00a0 Fifteen years in the making \u2013 his Coleridge is more Coleridgean than Coleridge, and probably more attractive.<\/p>\n

          The Girl Who Played with Fire\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stieg Larsson<\/h2>\n

          Absolutely addictive page turning staying awake to finish thriller.\u00a0 Part two of a Trilogy.<\/p>\n

          God hates us all.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hank Moody<\/h2>\n

          The opening chapters made me laugh out loud.\u00a0\u00a0 Very funny version of the lets-get-fucked up and shag school of literature.\u00a0 But like eating too many scones and clotted cream, in the end I became discontented and bailed.<\/p>\n

          The Humbling\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

          Like a mood swing this goes through many changes as the elderly actor suffers memory loss, lack of confidence and a nervous breakdown, only to take up with a young part lesbian lover, who fulfils his every fantasy, including a threesome, after which she inevitably leaves him for the other female. The moral is perhaps: don\u2019t get what you might wish for.<\/p>\n

          The Chronicles of Hernia\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barry Cryer<\/h2>\n

          Laugh out loud title and many wonderful showbiz stories from a man who has had his nose pressed to the glass since he was a lad.\u00a0\u00a0 My only concern, apart from the relentless anecdotalising, was his sad plea for an OBE.\u00a0\u00a0 Come on lad you can aspire to better than that.\u00a0 I was wondering if he remembered me \u2013 only to find I appeared in the opening sentence of his Prologue.\u00a0\u00a0 He and Dick Vosburgh were truly my comic mentors in my early TV writing days, and there is a marvellous Vosburgh story\u2026<\/p>\n

          Havanas in Camelot\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Styron<\/h2>\n

          Memoirs and memories, including a nice one about Terry Southern, whom I met a few times in New York with Mick.\u00a0\u00a0 Styron and Capote were contemporaries and watching the play of Breakfast at Tiffany\u2019s<\/em> I was struck by the similarity of the writer falls for eccentric female theme in that novella and Styron\u2019s Sophie\u2019s Choice<\/em> and wondered if they both derived from Isherwood\u2019s I am a Camera<\/em> Berlin stories about Sally Bowles.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In Capote and Isherwood\u2019s versions they are clearly camp longings for a diva \u2013 but Styron is not gay and shags his Sally.<\/p>\n

          Breakfast at Tiffany\u2019s\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Truman Capote<\/h2>\n

          Of course I had to re-read the book immediately and it is still a flawless masterpiece \u2013 a genuine classic.\u00a0 Far more dramatic and beautifully staged than the play in London, which bewilderingly discards all detail (of set) \u2013 which is one of Capote\u2019s strong points \u2013 and isolates the actors in an Elvis Jailhouse Rock type set.\u00a0\u00a0 Anna Friel is brilliant, but the production is significant for incorporating a brilliant singing and guitar playing actress and then being unable to negotiate the rights for Moon River.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>Which says it all.<\/p>\n

          The Lonely Hearts Club\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raul Nunez<\/h2>\n

          I recall nothing and only got about half way.<\/p>\n

          City of Strangers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian Mackenzie<\/h2>\n

          And sadly I can recall very little of this, though I apparently finished it.\u00a0\u00a0 My only excuse is that I have been travelling extensively and reading omnivorously.<\/p>\n

          Summertime\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J.M. Coetzee<\/h2>\n

          Ok it\u2019s fess up time and I have to confess I am getting tired of Coetzee.\u00a0 He is prolix and tedious and almost nothing happens.\u00a0 I bailed half way through with a slight sense of guilt which mellowed into anger that he was not entertaining me.<\/p>\n

          None of this ever really happened\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter Ferry<\/h2>\n

          Recommended by Eggers on the cover and yes it is a nice illustration of the power of storytelling from one who teaches people the art of writing stories\u00a0 (are you listening J.M. Coetzee.)\u00a0 He both discusses and illustrates and plays with the theme of storytelling.<\/p>\n

          The Rich Boy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald.<\/h2>\n

          Hemmingway got it wrong.\u00a0\u00a0 Fitzgerald had his finger on something really important: the reason the rich are different is that they are relieved from some of the burdens of feeling, which paralyses their ability to feel.\u00a0 The hero of this story can never commit and suffers a kind of freezing in life experience from it.\u00a0 Life simply passes him by.<\/p>\n

          The Mangan Inheritance\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brian Moore<\/h2>\n

          Tried to read this before.\u00a0\u00a0 Failed again.<\/p>\n

          Perforated Hearts\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eric Bogosian<\/h2>\n

          Very slight novel.\u00a0\u00a0 Nothing sticks.<\/p>\n

          Lush Life\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Price<\/h2>\n

          A fine novel indeed. Most of the book is great.\u00a0\u00a0 About two thirds of the way it began to remind me of Tom Wolfe, but then he pulled back from that brink and pulled off the book.<\/p>\n

          Angels in America\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tony Kushner<\/h2>\n

          Re reading of a wonderful play.<\/p>\n

          Road to Recovery.\u00a0 Looking Back at Britain.\u00a0 1950\u2019s.\u00a0 Brian Moynahan<\/h2>\n

          Good photographs and fine essays about these powerful times.\u00a0 (research)<\/p>\n

          Our Times The Age of Elizabeth 11nd.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A.N. Wilson.<\/h2>\n

          Same period, different perspective.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (research)<\/p>\n

          The Act of Love\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Howard Jacobson<\/h2>\n

          I didn\u2019t finish.\u00a0 About a self-willed adultery.\u00a0\u00a0 Never my favourite subject.\u00a0 Here the husband wishes his wife to be unfaithful to him.\u00a0 Pinter recommends it \u2013 they have the same problem clearly.<\/p>\n

          The Men Who Stare at Goats\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jon Ronson<\/h2>\n

          I finished this only after enjoying the movie.\u00a0\u00a0 Only to discover that this book is far more serious than the movie \u2013 and is really about the evil of Abu Grahib and what Psy-ops were really up to.\u00a0\u00a0 Often shocking\u2026.<\/p>\n

          Homer and Langley\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E. L. Doctorow<\/h2>\n

          Two weird brothers who live in a house on fifth.\u00a0\u00a0 And their closing down of their own world and rejection of this one.\u00a0 Odd stuff.<\/p>\n

          Fame\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Payne<\/h2>\n

          From the Bronze Age to Britney \u2013 a discussion of the madness known as Fame.\u00a0\u00a0 Partly hilarious for discussing English fame cases \u2013 which are barely known to me.. e.g. Jade Goodey.<\/p>\n

          The Colour of Blood\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brian Moore<\/h2>\n

          A re-read.<\/p>\n

          The Maples Stories\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Updike<\/h2>\n

          A new collection of short stories.\u00a0\u00a0 Over time the Maples realise they are no longer in love and separate.\u00a0\u00a0 Clearly themes and characters he returned to over a long period of time.<\/p>\n

          Me Cheeta\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Lever<\/h2>\n

          A great concept and a great opening.\u00a0\u00a0 The memoirs of Cheeta Tarzan\u2019s ape.\u00a0 Hilarious opening chapter about Rex Harrison.\u00a0\u00a0 I found the joke soon palled though.\u00a0\u00a0 Great gag though it is.\u00a0\u00a0 The film memoirs of the real Cheetah from the Tarzan movies\u2026<\/p>\n

          The Princess of Cleves\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Madame de Lafayette<\/h2>\n

          Translated by Nancy Mitford.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I dipped only.<\/p>\n

          Nocturnes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kazuo Ishiguro<\/h2>\n

          Five stories of Music and Nightfall.\u00a0 I liked these inter-related stories about the breakdown of relationships, the failure of love over time.\u00a0 Thematically linked though music. The guitarist who serenades the divorcing wife of the fading American crooner.\u00a0 The guest uncomfortably caught between the grinding gears of his ex-college friend\u2019s marriage.\u00a0 (Come Rain or Shine)\u00a0 The interloper \u2013 the awkward outsider \u2013 two couples, his sister and husband (Malvern) and the two \u201ckrauts\u201d from Switzerland who quarrel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Middle aged relationships and the helpless individual caught in the middle.\u00a0 The narrator is uninvolved.\u00a0 Puzzled and unable to respond except bizarrely or helplessly.\u00a0 Even when seduced the narrator is paralysed \u2013 like the bandaged sax player next door to the Film Star.\u00a0 It\u2019s about missing opportunities \u2013 a constant theme in his canon.\u00a0\u00a0 The cellist and his non-playing female mentor..\u00a0\u00a0 They all fail to have sex, though sex is always the elephant in the room.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Bath and Return July through end of August 2009<\/h1>\n

          Heliopolis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Scudamore<\/h2>\n

          Fine yarn, Booker entry.\u00a0 Set in a Sao Pao shanty town.\u00a0 Again it\u2019s Copperfield, rags to riches, a little Pip too \u2013 rich benefactor.\u00a0 The hero is bought by a rich family and is in love with his adoptive sister.\u00a0 Can he ruin his opportunities or will he smartly succeed in advertising?\u00a0 The plot is to find his own identity, his real father.\u00a0 The revelation though brings nothing much.\u00a0 Artfully written but doubtful winner.<\/p>\n

          The Black Prince\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Iris Murdoch<\/h2>\n

          Picked up this first edition in Bath.\u00a0 An hilarious book.\u00a0 A rather pretentious fussy little divorced writer \u2013 Bradley Pearson \u2013 the very name describes his tight little world – has finally decided to leave London to write his masterpiece, when the world intrudes on his doorstep \u2013 in the shape of ex-wives, best friends wives, brothers of ex-wives, suicidal sisters, in other words farce, but masterfully handled, and always with the discussion of art, the art of the novel, irony and its place in novel writing.\u00a0\u00a0 In this vein she is really first rate.<\/p>\n

          The trouble with Iris Murdoch is she is very good at action but then her characters talk and talk and talk and talk\u2026.. till we are sick to death of them, even more than they are sick to death of each other.\u00a0\u00a0 The dangers of prolixity\u2026and the action virtually stops dead.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          So she is an odd bird.\u00a0\u00a0 While commencing in farce she pushes on into deeper and rather more uncomfortable territory.\u00a0 So prissy Bradley (58)\u2013 so snottily against his ex-wife Chris \u2013 falls in love with Julian (20).\u00a0 We are uncertain whether she means us to laugh at his over-emotional joy\/jealousy\/panic as he writes so lengthily about his love.\u00a0 The next thing he is throwing up in Covent Garden because he is with her (or because of Richard Strauss) and the next thing she loves him too.\u00a0\u00a0 She is really like a dramatist with stark changes of plot and character.\u00a0 The characters twist and change with sudden moods exposed in eternally long soliloquy.\u00a0\u00a0 So yes an odd bird.\u00a0\u00a0 Was she as good as she might be?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t there something that is not deliberately funny about all this Henry Jamesian introspection.\u00a0 Shall I continue?<\/p>\n

          The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Steig Larsson<\/h2>\n

          A pot boiler for the trip to Orca, and not a bad one, and the pot wasn\u2019t bad either.\u00a0 An undoubted page turner.\u00a0 A high class murder mystery that reads like a real crime Monster of Florence type book.\u00a0\u00a0 A Swedish magazine writer is set up for a libel case, and is then seduced into solving a forty year old disappearance of a teenager from a particularly unpleasant wealthy industrial family.\u00a0\u00a0 Involving serial murders and sadistic abductions passed down in the family ( can this be true?) the eponymous girl with the tattoo is a very strange creation, both super computer sleuth, and borderline malfunction weirdo.\u00a0 The sequel is heavily trailered at the end of the book, perhaps to prevent you noticing how unsatisfactorily and peremptorily it ended.\u00a0\u00a0 So in many ways more serial TV than serial murder.\u00a0 But a great holiday read I picked up in Seattle airport when I mistakenly packed a paperback edition of Philip Roth\u2019s Indignation<\/em> only to realise I had read it recently.\u00a0 Thank God for this reading diary.<\/p>\n

          How It Ended\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jay McInerney<\/h2>\n

          Sometimes when picking up books again, or when continuing to re-read from where I left out they seem a lot better than had at first appeared to me,\u00a0 These short stories for example.\u00a0\u00a0 I have really enjoyed the later stories: e.g. his telling of Philomena.\u00a0\u00a0 His themes are betrayal, adultery, the suspicion of love failing, the falling apart of couples, particularly after marriage, childbirth and pregnancy (abortion too: he is a Catholic after all.) He writes of these things honestly and with no squirming or ducking both the selfish male search for sexual release and the female hardening of the hearteries.\u00a0 In his work I like the older more mature voice.\u00a0 (Putting Daisy Down) I think he can develop into a great writer, he has the skill, the time and the control.\u00a0\u00a0 Failing to connect, Manhattan man, the pressure of the city \u2013 especially post 911 – and the ennui of the commuters Connecticut.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          France\u2026\u00a0 July 2009<\/h1>\n

          Terrorist\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Updike<\/h2>\n

          Wrong man for the job.\u00a0\u00a0 The prolix Updike writing a thriller is a mistake.\u00a0\u00a0 Thrillers are all action.\u00a0\u00a0 Short description.\u00a0 Short sentences.\u00a0 Then this happens.\u00a0\u00a0 Then that happened.\u00a0\u00a0 Updike is all about language.\u00a0 He completely loses the plot which is the most essential element of a thriller.\u00a0 Here it creaks and is poorly delivered (especially the climax).\u00a0 It gets drowned in his sentences. So that while the minor characters are all beautifully described and their worlds perfectly manifest, they are still just that \u2013 minor characters in a story that needs to unfold with some kind of tension.\u00a0 Is Ahmet the too pure whose alienation drives him to a Muslim God going to become a suicide bomber.\u00a0 Who is the terrorist in the title?\u00a0\u00a0 Is it ironic?\u00a0 Will they succeed?\u00a0\u00a0 All the elements of the thriller are present but none of the essential drive.\u00a0 His way of writing is layers of observation in gentle reality –\u00a0 the overweight teachers, the saggy art aspirers, a corpulent old wife too bloated to leave the Lazy Boy.\u00a0\u00a0 These accurately observed details are wonderful Updike but since the genre is Thriller these details lessen the tension and they ultimately derail the novel.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m still unsure what happened at the end.<\/p>\n

          A Short History of Myth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Karen Armstrong<\/h2>\n

          Too long for me\u2026.\u00a0 Who is this woman who appears everywhere writing about God?\u00a0\u00a0 Apparently a former nun who lost her faith appeared on the BBC and then found it again writing 20 books on God.\u00a0 Poor old God.<\/p>\n

          Closing Time \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Heller<\/h2>\n

          I had the feeling I had read this and now I know why, I had. Only this time I\u2019m really enjoying it.\u00a0 Heller is really funny.\u00a0\u00a0 Yossarian in hospital determined to get the doctors to find out he is really sick though he has no symptoms is a hoot.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Heller keeps doing the negative option \u2013 the funny option in language (nonsense?) that we reject as absurd.\u00a0\u00a0 It is a rich vein for him<\/p>\n

          Here what I wrote in October 1994.\u00a0 \u201cOminously\u00a0 described as a sequel to Catch 22 it has desperation in every page.\u00a0\u00a0 There are flashes and of course the same names but much more in common with the dull endless unshaped rambling of Something Happened.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I closed early<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

          Well this time I liked it a lot more and it\u2019s true that I didn\u2019t finish it this time, but next year I shall.\u00a0\u00a0 Heller is very funny, the funniest of all his contemporary Jewish\/American literary novel writers.\u00a0\u00a0 His contempt for Washington and all human institutions, his knowledge of the depth of corruption of industrial man, his appreciation of greed and self-interest as the major motive of mankind Heller has a Swiftian vision of bureaucracy.\u00a0 Yossarian goes to hospital determined to prove he is sick, despite all evidence to the contrary.\u00a0 Paradox is his field.\u00a0 The Chaplain pees heavy water and is disappeared by the security forces.\u00a0\u00a0 His contempt for \u201cthat prick in the White House.\u00a0\u00a0 He is very Pythonic as he takes the absurd seriously.<\/p>\n

          The Yiddish Policemen\u2019s Union\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Chabon<\/h2>\n

          Tania complained she couldn\u2019t get into this and I encouraged her to try again next year.\u00a0\u00a0 Like me the first time she was put off by all the unfamiliar Jewish terms.\u00a0\u00a0 However I picked up the book again a year later and loved it.\u00a0\u00a0 Here I glanced at it and was immediately seduced into re-reading it and I loved it more than ever.\u00a0\u00a0 It is an almost perfect novel, where the writing and the language match and mirror the action in a breath-taking way that is apparent only in the great classics of Dickens, or say Gatsby.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It is a masterpiece masquerading as a detective story.<\/p>\n

          The Gulag Archipelago\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn<\/h2>\n

          Wow.\u00a0\u00a0 Now I know why it is a classic.\u00a0\u00a0 Utterly gripping expose of the Soviet world since the revolution and under the monstrous Stalin, in the form of an autobiography of the author as victim of the system, so that amongst the essay type writing there is a developing story of what happened to Solzhenitsyn once he was arrested (during the war).\u00a0 Plus the perfidy of the Brits in handing over hundreds of thousands of Russians, opponents of Stalinism, to it\u2019s revenge.\u00a0\u00a0 A reminder that revolution always leads to authoritarianism\u00a0 (France, Cromwell etc)\u00a0 which leaves the country suffering a far worse fate than that it set out to over throw.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0The Professor of Desire\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

          A history of childhood adolescence and early manhood.\u00a0\u00a0 An American Nickleby, but unlike Dickens the entire post-Lawrence era of writing incorporates directly and here specifically the interior sexual life of the author.\u00a0\u00a0 The randy, often Jewish, youth propelled into a world of desire and temptation.\u00a0\u00a0 Usually as here\u00a0 there is some adjustment to and acceptance of the final winning of the female.\u00a0 Oddly the theme here comes to be the anxiety that desire and not love will be that which will not survive.\u00a0 An odd and quirky view \u2013 a nostalgia for your own rut \u2013 but if he were not odd and quirky he would not be the author of Portnoy.\u00a0 Does his extreme sexual obsession make him a kind of Jewish Henry Miller?\u00a0 \u00a0(We see the same thing, handled skilfully, by William Boyd \u2013 especially the two young Swedish girls in France syndrome.\u00a0\u00a0 Where are these girls when you need them?)\u00a0 But in this novel there is the tragedy of his girlfriend being betrayed and tormented by her own seduction by him and her friend.<\/p>\n

          Roth writes really well, but about two thirds of the way through with the contrived and sentimentally written return of his former wife, it becomes rather soap operatic.\u00a0 Somehow untrue.\u00a0\u00a0 And contrived.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And though the character of the father lifts the book somehow the novel failed to nail the maturation of the young man thrust into the world theme \u2013 for he has yet to discard the adolescent obsession with perfect sensuality which also defines the grown up.<\/p>\n

          Interpreter of Maladies\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jhumpa Lahiri<\/h2>\n

          The most wonderful collection of short stories.\u00a0\u00a0 An absolute thrill to read.\u00a0 Often concerned with the diasporic Indian experience, Indians in the US particularly.\u00a0\u00a0 I really was delighted by her writing and cannot recommend too highly<\/p>\n

          \u00a0The Apple\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Faber<\/h2>\n

          A collection of short stories that does not appeal to me.\u00a0 I don\u2019t get Faber.\u00a0 And what is his obsession with underage Victorian prostitutes.\u00a0\u00a0 I think it\u2019s very posey\u2026.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0Don\u2019t tell Alfred\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nancy Mitford<\/h2>\n

          I recognised the tone immediately as Mrs Dale.\u00a0\u00a0 Odd because a few pages later one of the characters referred to her!\u00a0 This is a fairly funny book.\u00a0 Mitford isn\u2019t quite Waugh \u2013 the prose is not up to it \u2013 but she is no slouch at comedy either.\u00a0 Here a wry look at a plain Jane (Austen) type called Fanny, married to a quiet Oxford theology professor, who is suddenly and unexpectedly transformed into the British Ambassador to Paris, allowing her to be funny about both Oxford and the French.\u00a0 She tries to create in Northey ( A young Scottish female assistant with whom every Frenchman becomes instantly besotted) a major comic character, but it doesn\u2019t come off in quite the same way as Uncle Matthew.\u00a0 Partly because her sexual life is somewhat ambivalent, so we don\u2019t quite know if she is bonking all these French diplomats or just teasing them.\u00a0\u00a0 This ambivalence is fatal to our liking or not a rather self-indulgent character.<\/p>\n

          Descartes\u2019 Secret Notebook\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Amir\u00a0 D.\u00a0 Aczel<\/h2>\n

          Unfinished.\u00a0 I\u2019ll return.\u00a0 And I did, but skipping.\u00a0 Fuzzy writing about math.\u00a0 I feel Descartes is more interesting than the writer.\u00a0 The interesting thing is Descartes establishes the connection between math and philosophy which was to dominate and determine the course of philosophy.\u00a0 He is presented as a timid man who is intimidated by the terrible trial of Galileo by the terrorists of the Inquisition, and who prevents the publication of his own book supporting the Copernican theory.\u00a0 He has a mathematical proof for the existence of God, but by denying everything and suggesting everything is false he comes up with the I think therefore I am concept.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          La\u00a0 Place de la Concorde Suisse\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John McPhee<\/h2>\n

          More than you ever really wanted to know about the Swiss and their ever ready army.\u00a0 History, geography, philosophy \u2013 he defends the Swiss from Orson Welle\u2019s abusive characterisation of their history compared to the Italians under the Borgias as leading to the cuckoo clock.\u00a0\u00a0 They fought very hard for their freedoms and are prepared to defend it against all comers.\u00a0 And their uniting of separate nationalities, Swiss, French and German, though cantonically and ethnically divided, is an example to the world.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          July 2009<\/h1>\n

          Laura Rider\u2019s Masterpiece\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jane Hamilton<\/h2>\n

          A brilliantly written opening chapter in superb prose leads one into high expectations which are soon dashed and lead to gnashing of teeth and book tossing.\u00a0 I began to sense I wouldn\u2019t love it when the female protagonist and narrator casually said her husband\u2019s sex life was bothering her and blithely announced she was stopping engaging in it.\u00a0\u00a0 Then she intellectually falls for an improbable talk radio hostess and then decides to write a novel and then her\u00a0 husband Charles Rider and she cannot resist showing us her knowingness about Brideshead \u2013 which she admires instead as we all know it is a very sentimental novel about love for alcoholic upper class English boys and oh well I tossed the damn thing in a shout of frustration.<\/p>\n

          April \u2013 June\u00a0 2009<\/h1>\n

          Henry VIII\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Shakespeare<\/h2>\n

          Henry VIII Part 1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Shakespeare<\/h2>\n

          Henry VIII Part 2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Shakespeare<\/h2>\n

          Henry VIII Part 3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Shakespeare<\/h2>\n

          Richard III\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Shakespeare<\/h2>\n

          Richard II\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Shakespeare<\/h2>\n

          Henry IV Part 1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Shakespeare<\/h2>\n

          Henry IV Part 1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Shakespeare<\/h2>\n

          Henry V \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Shakespeare<\/h2>\n

           <\/p>\n

          This was White History month for this History Boy as he became first interested and then obsessed with Shakespeare\u2019s History plays.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the month of Michael Jackson\u2019s death it\u2019s good to remember that Dead White Guys are still interesting.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Triggered by Stephen Greenblatt\u2019s remarkable and wonderful biography of Shakespeare I began to read Henry VIII because I never had and because in the new play John and I are working we were considering ending the First Act with a full Tudor song (No one as rude as The Tudors) sung by Anne Boleyn and Wolsey (A Long Farewell to all my former greatness) and I figured it was time I read the play.\u00a0\u00a0 It certainly seemed largely Shakespeare to me \u2013 who is now keen on deputing all second rate scenes (particularly comedy) to other collaborators.\u00a0\u00a0 Anyway I enjoyed H8 \u2013 sounds like a Tudor football score \u2013 Henry 8 Wives 6.\u00a0 The Pelican paperbacks are fine and easy to read with readily accessible but not intrusive notes, so you can glance down if you are puzzled but mainly just read them.\u00a0\u00a0 I began with the Henry VI trilogy because I had not realised how big early hits they were for the Shakester (I know I hate that too) \u2013 and was surprised how fabulous they are as great reading.\u00a0\u00a0 Dramatic, fast moving, action packed and filled with great characters (Margaret!) they could easily be the Sopranos, Deadwood or some other kind of HBO series.\u00a0\u00a0 We are gripped and engrossed in the power struggles around the throne of the young Henry, watch alliances forming and betrayals happening (Godfather time) and the dramatic beginning of the War of the Roses which like any feuding powers are always the same \u2013 jealousies, rage, envies, lust for power and title.\u00a0\u00a0 I happily sailed into the more familiar Richard III (Dick The Third as Cheney should be known) and the wonderful villainous character which shows Shakespeare\u2019s maturing interest in character and externalising the internal thoughts of the protagonist \u2013 here magnificently used for black comic effect.\u00a0 What a simple device \u2013 to have the character speak directly to us about himself \u2013 and yet how richly it becomes vital to his dramas and enables The Shake to show what only the future novel is able to reveal \u2013 the subtleties and unconscious ironies of the way we think and behave.\u00a0\u00a0 Because of the multi tracked nature of our minds we can be saying one thing and thinking several others and still be misleading ourselves and how to deal with this is one of the interesting problems of writing and creation.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m unsure if Marlowe is the great evolver of this (as Coleridge is the great evolver of Wordsworth) but Elizabethan theatre is an extraordinary burgeoning and blossoming of this vastly mature and revealing new form and it enables Shakespeare to evolve from a simple plot motivated form to finally deep and penetrating studies of human consciousness (Hamlet, Lear, Macbeth)<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          So the usurpation of the throne by Richard the serial killer leads to the dangerous legitimacy of the Tudors and I shot back in time as did Shakespeare with the second Richard \u2013 a so called weak King attacked for his follies, corrupted by his tax needs to help himself to others inheritances and attacked and replaced by the modern politically astute Bolingbroke.\u00a0 Shakespeare then switches into internalising the tragedy of the death of Kings and the mortality of man and it is in this play that he steps up and shows us what will become the mature study of the agonising ambivalence of life pointing the way to so much more to come.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          It was with the second Henriad that I became surprisingly disenchanted with the Histories.\u00a0\u00a0 For a start the poetry slips away and is replaced by large dosages of prose \u2013 and turgid comic prose at that.\u00a0 I would like to believe someone else wrote these comic scenes.\u00a0\u00a0 I found myself surprisingly uninterested in the massive comic figure of Falstaff, who seemed indulgent, unpleasant and unfunny.\u00a0\u00a0 I was even more surprised when I found that the O Level play Part 2 was even worse.\u00a0\u00a0 The whole farcical world \u2013 though clearly a hit \u2013 just didn\u2019t interest me \u2013 I preferred the high drama of the many revolts \u2013 with Hotspur and the haverings of Northumberland, and by the time I hit Henry V, the prig of all time with its chauvinistic and unpleasant and unironic appeal to popular English sentiment (let\u2019s kill all the prisoners \u2013 one of the great unchivalrous massacres of all time) this \u201chero\u201d left me cold.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So there you are.<\/p>\n

          Will in The World\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Greenblatt<\/h2>\n

          The prime mover in all this Shakespeare mania, my old pal Stephen Jay Greenblatt as he used to be known in my day.\u00a0\u00a0 What a truly wonderful book, both an imaginative and sensitive biography but a constructive and an exciting reading of the plays \u2013 so we see when in the course of his life Shakespeare wrote what.\u00a0\u00a0 It made me immediately want to read Shakespeare which of course I did.\u00a0\u00a0 But I shall also re-read this book as it is full of so many wonderful insights into the life and times of this extraordinary human being.\u00a0\u00a0 The beginnings with Shakespeare spending some time in a Catholic household are conjectural, but it serves to place the plays in the context of the dangers of the Reformation where today’s belief is tomorrows burning and from the Archbishops staff to the scaffold is but a short step.\u00a0 The extraordinarily violent world is emphasised with the death of Marlowe, Shakespeare\u2019s great rival and teacher, and for a while one can see this rivalry with the younger Shakespeare endeavouring to compete with the glittering and sexually alluring star of the other company.\u00a0 The other insight was that many of these plays were collaborative in the way that screen writing today’s is, though it is still perfectly obvious to me which is Shakespeare through the richness of the most amazing poetry in the language.<\/p>\n

          Coleridge\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Early Visions 1772-1804\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Holmes<\/h2>\n

          Another big influence on me book.\u00a0\u00a0 I had not realised quite how indebted Wordsworth was to the quick fire genius and penetrating thought of Coleridge.\u00a0\u00a0 Yes he was a young firebrand with idiotic schemes to found new hippy colonies on the banks of the Susquehanna but mercifully penury spared him the ability to do that.\u00a0 His love of being high, hand in hand with his delight in stalking the hills by moonlight means that his poetry is often far more interesting and exciting than the more prosaic Wordsworth \u2013 indeed I read the Lyrical Ballads again recently and found them limpid \u2013 as I did before.\u00a0\u00a0 Interestingly cunningly manipulates Wordsworth off the credit list for Lyrical Ballads while still maintaining the best poem \u2013 the Ancient Mariner.\u00a0\u00a0 I believe in Part 2 the addiction becomes more profound and this rather attractive Coleridge is replaced by a less admirable man \u2013 but\u00a0 here one feels all the sympathy for a loving man, trapped in a slightly loveless marriage, and constantly having to deny his sexuality.\u00a0 What a great hippy he would have been \u2013 though probably he would have just turned into Tim Leary and had too much sex and not enough Philosophy.\u00a0\u00a0 In many ways Coleridge has always struck me as being like Jonathan Miller with the most tremendously engaging and wide ranging mind.\u00a0\u00a0 A Stephen Fry too.\u00a0\u00a0 Great book.\u00a0 Great fun.<\/p>\n

          Lyrical Ballads\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Wordsworth<\/h2>\n

          I mistyped Lyrical Balls but I think that was more accurate.\u00a0 Surprisingly uninteresting poems the book survives for its polemical preface, most of which is taken straight from Coleridge.\u00a0 I read it on Kindle. I do like Wordsworth \u2013 some of the sonnets are exquisite and I am very fond of The Prelude and the Intimations Ode.<\/p>\n

          When China Ruled the Seas\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Louise Levathes<\/h2>\n

          The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne 1405 \u2013 1433<\/p>\n

          Monstrous ships, monster fleets.\u00a0 Who knew?\u00a0\u00a0 Not I.<\/p>\n

          The Goshawk\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 T. H .White<\/h2>\n

          A lovely book on hawks and hawking, and the indomitable author who attempts to train one.\u00a0 The finest prose.\u00a0\u00a0 Beautiful classic given me for Christmas by Lauren Hutton.\u00a0 (Along with the McPhee Annals \u2013 so let us here no more about the intelligence of models\u2026.)<\/p>\n

          Shakespeare Wrote for Money\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nick Hornby<\/h2>\n

          More of the digested bits from the Believer.\u00a0 Two years of monthly instalments which made me a Believer and which sadly he has now ceased leaving me a high and dry subscriber with very little interest in what they write about.<\/p>\n

          The Best Thing That Can Happen to a Croissant\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pablo Tusset<\/h2>\n

          Ok in a kind of muffin way.\u00a0\u00a0 Stud muffin.\u00a0\u00a0 An adventure story whose resolution happens to be a bit disappointing, the Illuminati or some kind of secret society maintaining secret HQ\u2019s in Barcelona, but up to that moment it is mercifully Dan Brown free and highly entertaining, and certainly no worse than the idiotic conspiracy world we have to swallow in Dan Brown books.\u00a0\u00a0 What I am saying is he is more Fleming and entertaining than Flaubert and none the worse for that.<\/p>\n

          A Strange Eventful\u00a0 History\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Holroyd<\/h2>\n

          The Dramatic Lives of Ellen Terry, Henry Irving and their Remarkable Families\u00a0\u00a0 and about as interesting as any book on actors could be.\u00a0\u00a0 One of the books Mike Nichols sent me for Christmas so I read along for a while And then sorta lost interest in them.\u00a0\u00a0 Nothing wrong with it.\u00a0 Or me either.\u00a0 Theatrical people don\u2019t really interest me.<\/p>\n

          All The Tea in China\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kyril Bonfiglioli<\/h2>\n

          I was excited to find this in San Fran as I knew this author has been dead a while.\u00a0\u00a0 I loved his Mordecai series and here he writes with fine wit an improbable adventure tale of the opium trade.\u00a0\u00a0 This must be some undiscovered early book.\u00a0\u00a0 He is still fun to read but how I yearn for a new one\u2026<\/p>\n

          The Wanderers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Price<\/h2>\n

          Muscular Brooklynism.\u00a0 Aggressive teens with drugs and gangs.\u00a0 Growing up in New York America.<\/p>\n

          The Missionary and The Libertine\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian Buruma<\/h2>\n

          Love and War in East and West.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Essays and histories of Asia, Hong Kong, 25 illuminating essays.\u00a0 He is always fascinating.<\/p>\n

          Jeff in Venice.\u00a0\u00a0 Death in Varanasi<\/h2>\n

          The most disappointing book of the year.\u00a0\u00a0 Oh dear.\u00a0\u00a0 Jeff Dyer\u2019s attempt to become popular.\u00a0 Or maybe make a movie.\u00a0\u00a0 About a sexy author who comes from England on a freebie for a journal and gets shagged by an American.\u00a0\u00a0 Oh God forbid.\u00a0\u00a0 He thinks he is the hottest thing in pants and here he looks like a twat.\u00a0 More irony in the soul please.\u00a0\u00a0 It is ok to get shagged by pretty girls if you are an author but it doesn\u2019t endear you to us\u2026<\/p>\n

          Manhood for Amateurs<\/h2>\n

          A new pal Michael Chabon gave me his new book, a series of essays on paternity and marriage.\u00a0\u00a0 Thoughtful and always honest, he reveals himself to be as intelligent and sweet and funny as, well, his books do.<\/p>\n

          March\u00a0 2009<\/h1>\n

          The Control of Nature\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John McPhee<\/h2>\n

          The control of the Mississippi Flood threat by the US Army Corps of Engineers (written long before Katrina) the heroic fight of a few Icelanders against and defeat of the lava flow, using hoses and water pumps, and the continual threat to Los Angeles of debris flows and the struggle to control them.\u00a0\u00a0 All pieces written for the New Yorker<\/p>\n

          Bech is Back\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Updike<\/h2>\n

          Good to remember what a wonderful writer Updike was, and this was fun to re-read the return of his alter ego, the writer Bech and his struggles with being single, married and divorced and feeling the obligation to publish.\u00a0 This came out in 1982 and contains this prescient piece.<\/p>\n

          America at heart is black, he saw .\u00a0 Snuggling into the jazz that\u00a0 sings to our bones, we feel that the Negro lives deprived and naked among us, and that when the castle of credit cards collapses a black god will redeem us.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Bech:\u00a0 a Book\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Updike<\/h2>\n

          Richly, wittily and poetically written these tales of the fictional alter ego of a blocked mid-life American writer as he travels to Russia and Rumania and London, as he leaves one sister for another on the beaches of Long Island, as he examines the meaninglessness of existence, and pointlessness of literary fame compared to the Universe, without ever surrendering his hold on either, makes this breath-taking little book, published in 1970, still a gem, and still glow incandescent in the flame of his bright prose, ensuring that he will be read long after this year of his death and has truly ascended into the Pantheon of the notable that he so wonderfully mocked with perhaps the greatest literary list of names since Fitzgerald.<\/p>\n

          How It Ended\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jay McInerney<\/h2>\n

          Short stories.\u00a0\u00a0 Sex and coke and anxiety.\u00a0 Rather more anxiety.\u00a0 It\u2019s in Cheever land, but cannot achieve what he does.<\/p>\n

          Road Dogs\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          The latest.\u00a0 Jack Foley the Out of Sight (Clooney) bandit returns.<\/p>\n

          Twelfth Night\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Shakespeare<\/h2>\n

          Here they Come\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yannick Murphy<\/h2>\n

          Campo Santo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 W.G. Sebald<\/h2>\n

          Re-reading the magnificent<\/p>\n

          Catching Life By The Throat\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edited Josephine Hart<\/h2>\n

          Great poems, selected.(with CD)<\/p>\n

          Coffee with Dickens\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Schlick<\/h2>\n

          A pot boiler made up of quotes.<\/p>\n

          Everything Ravaged Everything Burned\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wells Tower<\/h2>\n

          Excellent short stories.\u00a0 Steamy and weird.<\/p>\n

          Angels and Ages\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Adam Gopnik<\/h2>\n

          A short book about Darwin, Lincoln and Modern Life<\/p>\n

          Agnotology\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edited by Robert Proctor<\/h2>\n

          Essays.<\/p>\n

          Under the Skin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Faber<\/h2>\n

          Rather nasty short stories.\u00a0 He\u2019s not for me<\/p>\n

          The Beautiful and the Damned\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald.<\/h2>\n

          Re read a little.<\/p>\n

          February<\/h1>\n

          Dance for the Dead\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

          This is a Jane Whitefield novel \u2013 she is the Seneca Indian who helps people disappear from nasty people.\u00a0 I had got half way through when I realised I had already read it\u2026<\/p>\n

          At Large\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anne Fadiman<\/h2>\n

          The essayist daughter of an essayist.\u00a0 The best essays are on Coleridge and Lamb, whom she loves, and reveals as far more interesting than his rap.<\/p>\n

          Red Carpet Suicide\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Perez Hilton<\/h2>\n

          At least this weasel\u2019s book attempted to be amusing.\u00a0\u00a0 Read for research.\u00a0 It\u2019s a ten minute glance.\u00a0\u00a0 A jog through a jumped up blogger\u2019s self-congratulatory world.<\/p>\n

          Six Degrees of Paris Hilton\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mark Ebner<\/h2>\n

          Unreadable.\u00a0 Possibly the worst book I have ever read.\u00a0 Totally piss poor.\u00a0 As befits the subject.<\/p>\n

          Wishful Drinking\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carrie Fisher<\/h2>\n

          Hilarious memoirs from Princess Leia, honed and refined from her stage act of the same name.\u00a0\u00a0 Genuinely laugh out loud funny.\u00a0 What are the odds of reading two books consecutively where the heroine wakes up next to a dead man?\u00a0\u00a0 Here in fact, a shocking accidental OD and here\u2026<\/p>\n

          Play It As It Lays\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joan Didion<\/h2>\n

          \u2026..in fiction to a suicidal overdose.\u00a0\u00a0 Emergency Beach re-reading as also with<\/p>\n

          Nature Girl\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carl Hiassen<\/h2>\n

          Like a Jimmy Buffet song thus more of a snack than a meal.\u00a0\u00a0 But pleasant ocean side reading and a tribute to the high quality of discards from the former Villa Del Sol, Zihuantanejo.\u00a0\u00a0 Actually I think I probably left it originally!<\/p>\n

          Here They Come\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yannick Murphy<\/h2>\n

          I noted nothing.\u00a0\u00a0 I think I was liking it.\u00a0\u00a0 An elegantly produced McSweeney.<\/p>\n

          The Crimson Petal and the White\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Faber<\/h2>\n

          Faux Dickens.\u00a0 Faux writing.\u00a0\u00a0 About the usual teenage prostitute in Victorian times.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think this is the real thing.<\/p>\n

          The Chimes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles Dickens<\/h2>\n

          Described as a Goblin story \u2013 nothing of Dickens is not worth reading, and it\u2019s direct approach of grabbing you by the coat tails and talking directly to the reader is nothing short of gripping if not perhaps originating here but I bailed when it came to the Fairies.\u00a0\u00a0 The Ghosts of Christmas past are far more acceptable because they mirror our appreciation of our former and our future selves, with the exciting possibility of change and redemption, which is the Victorian Christmas message.<\/p>\n

          January\u00a0 2009<\/h1>\n

          Annals of the Former World\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John McPhee<\/h2>\n

          Already my book of the year.\u00a0 It is both Bible and Paradise Lost.\u00a0 To read this book is to change for ever your thinking about the nature of the Earth and Time.\u00a0 The most poetic book since Paradise Lost, the richness of its language, swathed in the highly poetic language of geology, so many words are encountered for the first time, that it is best simply to bathe in their unlooked up instinctive understanding. To appreciate the importance of the speed of evolution, between the constant stream of disasters, and the shortness of time we have in which to evolve and avert catastrophe.\u00a0 The patient rise and fall of mountain systems, the constant subduction of continents, the continual spreading of the ocean floor.\u00a0 All is motion.\u00a0\u00a0 Time is motion.\u00a0 The earth crackles and moans as its tectonic plates rub and move against each other, magma rises, oceans grow, continents decline and fall, mountain systems rise to be instantly washed away by rivers , this is On The Road for the Planet.\u00a0 McPhee a brilliant linguist is a companion of geologists, his understanding and constant interpretation of what they are telling him about the rise and folds of the geology of the earth as sampled along I 80, which spans America and unfurls it\u2019s history like an incision in a cadaver.\u00a0 So that the bearded men with hammers, who explore the copper history of Cypress, the anomalous island, where 200 year old slag heaps are environmentally protected as middens of industrial history, give us insight into the ancient industry of arms manufacture and the arms race of the Bronze Age.\u00a0\u00a0 And those words, the poetic language of geology, combined with tremendous erudition, that mark the man who loves words.\u00a0 A monumental book.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A gift from my soul sister and Lily\u2019s Fairy Godmother,\u00a0 Lauren Hutton<\/p>\n

          Anglomania\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian Buruma<\/h2>\n

          Fairly readable essays on fans of England\u00a0 – such as Voltaire \u2013 with the occasional dissenter<\/p>\n

          The Nasty Bits\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Bourdain<\/h2>\n

          The trouble with reading books about food is they either make you hungry or disgusted\u2026.<\/p>\n

          The Wordy Shipmates\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sarah Vowell<\/h2>\n

          Rather dull history of the Puritans.<\/p>\n

          The Silver Swan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Benjamin Black<\/h2>\n

          Excellent Irish detective fiction by John Banville.\u00a0 Well up to standard.<\/p>\n

          The Rover\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Conrad<\/h2>\n

          Swashbuckling historical romance set after the Revolution on the coast near Toulon.<\/p>\n

          The Portable Atheist<\/h2>\n

          Selected readings for the Non believer selected by Christopher Hitchens, sent me by his co-editor Ben Schafer.\u00a0\u00a0 Fabulous stuff.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          If there is anything more boring than being interviewed it is writing about being interviewed, oh wait blogging about being interviewed might be more boring.
          \n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/u>2008<\/u><\/h2>\n

          Ctrl-Alt- 1-2-3<\/h3>\n

          December<\/h1>\n

          The Master of Petersburg\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J.M. Coetzee<\/h2>\n

          Reads like a translation from another language.\u00a0 I found the Father\u2019s obsession with his dead son slightly sinister.<\/p>\n

          Homecoming\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bernard Schlink<\/h2>\n

          Is a translation<\/p>\n

          Something to Tell You\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hanif Kureishi<\/h2>\n

          Some of these new young English novelists can\u2019t end their novels. Like that girl\u2026 They get them started and running and then they just go on and on.\u00a0 This starts strongly and just stops except he can\u2019t stop it for 126 pages later, and even then he doesn\u2019t know what to do with it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Where are the English editors?\u00a0\u00a0 That at least keeps the Yanks more honest.<\/p>\n

          1423\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gavin Menzies.<\/h2>\n

          The sequel to 1421.\u00a0\u00a0 No, honest.\u00a0\u00a0 Fascinating if not particularly well written theory that the Chinese started the Renaissance.\u00a0\u00a0 Quite convincing.\u00a0\u00a0 In particular the details of the Chinese fleets and their maps which seem to have got into the hands of both Magellan and Columbus.\u00a0\u00a0 Half way to a blog this book with constant references to his website.\u00a0 Be nicer and more complete without this but I guess that\u2019s the contemporary world.<\/p>\n

          The Lost Decade\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald<\/h2>\n

          Another chance to read the Pat Hobby stories.\u00a0\u00a0 I liked them as much but this time his character seemed far more the scheming drunk and far less the sympathetic writer trapped in the harsh world of movies.\u00a0 Perhaps a second layer of self-hatred that I had not noticed before.<\/p>\n

          The Dynasties of China\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bamber Gascoigne<\/h2>\n

          A very elegant and eloquent quick glance through Chinese history \u2013 often through the viewpoint of art and artefact.<\/p>\n

          The China Lover\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian Buruma<\/h2>\n

          A most wonderful novel in three parts \u2013 with three separate narrators about the Japanese\/Chinese film star before during and after WW2.\u00a0 I found the first part great but the other two less so as the novel progressed.\u00a0 His writing is wonderfully well informed and I have been reading more of his work.\u00a0 I bought this for several people as Christmas presents and was quite impressed by it.<\/p>\n

          The Book of Dead Philosophers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Simon Critchley<\/h2>\n

          Offered a chance to blurb this but declined.\u00a0 The opening essay is great but the rest is a series of collected snapshots.<\/p>\n

          October \/ November<\/h1>\n

          Child 44\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Rob Smith<\/h2>\n

          Cancer Ward\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alexander Solzhenitsyn\u00a0 (E)<\/h2>\n

          The Autograph Man\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Zadie Smith\u00a0\u00a0 (E)<\/h2>\n

          At half the length this book would be twice as good.\u00a0 Eventually she gets bogged down and it all slows up.<\/p>\n

          A Most Wanted Man\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

          Long and I\u2019m sorry he doesn\u2019t write well.<\/p>\n

          White Tiger\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Aravind Adiga<\/h2>\n

          Magnificent worthy winner of the Booker.\u00a0\u00a0 Really great.<\/p>\n

          Indignation\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

          Magnificent.\u00a0 Beautifully written short novel about youth, fathers, girls, mothers and wars.\u00a0\u00a0 His prose is extraordinarily fine, his grip is phenomenal and he gets to the heart of the matter of growing up.<\/p>\n

          Man in the Dark\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Auster<\/h2>\n

          Parallel worlds Sci-fi.<\/p>\n

          Letters to a Young Contrarian\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Hitchens<\/h2>\n

          Excellent advice from an old contrarian.<\/p>\n

          Gentlemen of the Road\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Chabon<\/h2>\n

          Like a young person\u2019s tale.<\/p>\n

          Prince of Pleasure\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saul David<\/h2>\n

          Fascinating tales of another Prince of Wales.\u00a0 The self-indulgent fat fuck who became Regent and eventually George 1V.<\/p>\n

          Armageddon in Retrospect\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kurt Vonnegut<\/h2>\n

          Writings about war.<\/p>\n

          Stark\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edward Bunker<\/h2>\n

          Like a fifties LA novel written in the sixties.\u00a0 Less noir than gris.<\/p>\n

          Haroun\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Salman Rushdie<\/h2>\n

          Clothing Optional\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alan Zweibel\u00a0\u00a0 (autographed with bill)<\/h2>\n

          As I say in the blurb \u201cReading Alan Zweibel makes me laugh out loud.\u00a0\u00a0 And yet it is not a particularly funny name.\u201d<\/p>\n

          Left in Dark Times\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bernard-Henri Levy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (autographed)<\/h2>\n

          What is the sound of one hand wanking.\u00a0\u00a0 The sound of a French intellectual defining his position on the left away from anyone else on the left.<\/p>\n

          America\u2019s Hidden History\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kenneth C. Davis<\/h2>\n

          And most of America\u2019s history is hidden, since it has to be re-interpreted as myth.\u00a0\u00a0 (Or why should God bless America?)<\/p>\n

          The English Major\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jim Harrison<\/h2>\n

          When Men Become Gods\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Singular<\/h2>\n

          Far too much about Warren Jeffs,\u00a0 I get it so I junked it.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Retour \u2013 July thru September<\/h1>\n

          The Monster of Florence\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Douglas Preston<\/h2>\n

          Fascinating true life mystery of an American exile caught up in the sinister events of a serial killer who preys on young lovers in the Tuscan hills, the calamitous effects of a prejudiced investigator, who puts theory ahead of facts.\u00a0 Well written, well researched, I couldn\u2019t put this down.<\/p>\n

          Samuel Pepys \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0The Unequalled Self\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Claire Tomalin<\/h2>\n

          A magnificent biography of the great diarist \u2013 he kept his diary only for a few (crucial) years \u2013 the Plague and the Great Fire and visits to His Majesty Charles II.\u00a0 He started off as an ardent Cromwellian \u2013 whom he always admired above any Kings \u2013 and managed to keep his job in the Naval Office at the Restoration \u2013the finest flowering of British diplomacy.\u00a0 Any other country would have descended into Civil War again \u2013 the Brits perhaps because they had just been through it, managed a transition that enabled the useless House of Stuart to resume its selfish living \u2013 but not for long since J2 Chucks selfish brother would manage to lose it all again.\u00a0 When you think of those hapless Stuarts \u2013 one beheaded, one restored, one thrown out, you realise that Kingship was definitely not their strong suit. Catholicism shagging and pox.\u00a0\u00a0 What followed – the bloodless Dutch son in law, the helplessly fecund Anne and finally the House of Hanover\u00a0 – 32nd<\/sup> in line to the throne but for the Protestant exclusion clause.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Wonder Boys\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Chabon<\/h2>\n

          I have been reading Michael Chabon backwards.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting to see his development from the exquisite short story writing to handling larger themes and longer books.\u00a0\u00a0 This is a funny comic novel which became a funny film.\u00a0\u00a0 But he moves beyond this.<\/p>\n

          A Model World\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Chabon<\/h2>\n

          See above.\u00a0\u00a0 Short stories, but I prefer<\/p>\n

          Werewolves in their Youth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Chabon.<\/h2>\n

          I particularly like this collection of later short stories.\u00a0\u00a0 But with Chabon it is the unexpected brilliance of the prose which brings delight, the sudden insight.\u00a0 I find he has an uncanny effect to create atmosphere and scene, so that almost before you read the line your mind has glimpsed the visual element of the moment he is describing.\u00a0 This is nothing short of genius.<\/p>\n

          The Final Solution\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Shabon<\/h2>\n

          Old Sherlock, finds a missing parrot,\u00a0\u00a0 Stunning.<\/p>\n

          The Mysteries of Pittsburgh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Chabon<\/h2>\n

          His openings and his writing are so fabulous.\u00a0 This is early work and shows slightly towards the end.\u00a0 Gay love triangle for ambivalent son of gangster father who is enchanted by two characters who fail to enchant me in quite the same way \u2013 particularly Cleveland, whom we are invited to admire but who seems just a poseur fuck up.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps time would lend distance to the way he feels now about these characters.\u00a0\u00a0 Still brilliant writing.<\/p>\n

          The Wrecking Crew\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Frank<\/h2>\n

          I liked the long extract in Harpers but this full book is too depressing.\u00a0 Who are these people?\u00a0 How come Abramov is the only one in jail?\u00a0 How come Norquist still has a job?\u00a0\u00a0 How come America doesn\u2019t notice that these gangsters have taken over?\u00a0\u00a0 Good writing but terrifying conclusions.<\/p>\n

          The Overlook\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Connelly<\/h2>\n

          An ok crime novel about an unlikely misdirection for a murder \u2013 a wife frames a terrorist plot to steal radiated goods from cancer hospitals? Driving past the location The Mulholland Overlook I realised that the Madonna house is far too far away and on the wrong side of the hill for any Madonna stalker to have witnessed anything of the supposed crime.\u00a0\u00a0 The book is like that \u2013 flakey.\u00a0\u00a0 Read on my Reader on a flight to Chicago.<\/p>\n

          Love, etc\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Barnes<\/h2>\n

          I wasn\u2019t taken with this when I first read it and I\u2019m not now.\u00a0\u00a0 The telegram form of novel with interlocking voices.\u00a0\u00a0 Almost like a script.\u00a0\u00a0 Too like a script in fact.\u00a0\u00a0 But a copy I bought at Book Fair because it was signed and I like him.\u00a0 Seems to be about Martin Amis and wife stealing. I read it in 2000 and noted this:\u00a0 \u201cAcademic rather than compelling narrative structure fails to ignite.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Still holds true for me.<\/p>\n

          Kavalier & Clay\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Chabon<\/h2>\n

          A novel I was convinced at the start I would certainly re-read, by the end I was not so sure.\u00a0 But still a major achievement.\u00a0\u00a0 Almost a Russian novel.\u00a0 About an escapee from the Nazis in New York who creates comic books with his pal, and the devastating loss of his brother torpedoed on a convoy which spins him out of control and into hiding until his own son helps him escape into the present.\u00a0\u00a0 Ecstatically fine writing, involving Houdini and a flawless historical recreation of\u00a0 America in the forties and fifties.\u00a0 Deservedly a winner of prizes.\u00a0 Puts him instantly in the first rank of contemporary American novelists.\u00a0 (And world.)<\/p>\n

          Runner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

          The author kindly gave me an early copy of his latest Jane Whitefield novel which is not due for release until next January (09)\u00a0\u00a0 As I had just read a pair of his Jane Whitefield novels I was struck by the lack of energy and credibility at the start of this one \u2013 after a five year absence \u2013 perhaps due to a contractual obligation.\u00a0 But he soon had me caught up into the story of pursuit and hiding that are the themes of this character\u2019s stories.<\/p>\n

          The Enchantress of Florence\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Salman Rushdie<\/h2>\n

          While entertained for a while I failed to be enchanted.\u00a0 The unfortunate aspect of this romantic form is that it is essential Sci-fi.\u00a0 The world is made up.\u00a0 Therefore anything can happen.\u00a0 Largely things due to the dictates of the author.\u00a0\u00a0 And therefore who cares?\u00a0\u00a0 Not I, said the absenting Sparrow.<\/p>\n

          Maps and Legends\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Chabon<\/h2>\n

          Michael Chabon brilliantly defines a sub set of creative endeavour which includes Conan Doyle, and sixties British rock, and probably Monty Python which invites the subsequent participation of the audience.\u00a0\u00a0 This finds its apogee in the web.\u00a0 It begins, he argues, with Sherlockian writings and the countless body of work that Holmes inspires, but in a sense all drama is this \u2013 in so far as Shakespeare requires constant interpretation or presentation by actors and directors.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps after all our imaginations which create worlds from the form of words placed on a page are the first stage of this.\u00a0 Indeed all story telling involves the imagination of a participant, it is just perhaps that our communications having grown so massively include so many more millions that now the fan is not just a passive but an active participant.<\/p>\n

          It is a brilliant definition of modern \u201centertainment\u201d, which he goes out of his way to name and encourage, pointing out that pleasure is the highest principle in all artistic endeavour.\u00a0\u00a0 (While observing that money is the encouragement of most writing.)\u00a0\u00a0 He destroys literary snobbery in one essay \u2013 well two – and establishes himself as not just the leading writer but the leading critic of this time.<\/p>\n

          Perhaps a little too much about comics to satisfy a non-comic reader.<\/p>\n

          American Eve\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paula Uruburu<\/h2>\n

          Rather poorly written for an associate professor of English \u2013 with lots of gushing girly prose and no end of clich\u00e9 \u201cAnd to put the vanilla ice cream on the cherry pie\u201d which should have had her fired from any decent English department, and bags of unnecessary editorialising where description would suffice, nevertheless if you speed through the early chapters and get to the gist the story is so enthralling and the characters so amazing that the book becomes spell binding despite its author.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That the unfortunate sixteen year old Evelyn Nesbit should be drugged and seduced by the 58 year old rou\u00e9 architect Stanford White in his Manhattan love nest complete with red velvet swing, while mother is conveniently sent back to Pittsburgh to visit relatives may be considered unfortunate, but to inspire and become involved with the lunatic millionaire sadist Harry K. Thaw, whose passion is partly inspired by his hatred of White, to confess all to him and then be raped by him in Paris, and then to still go on and marry him, leads to the appalling tragic denouement where Thaw shoots White to death in the open air Manhattan Gardens before a thousand people, incurring two famous trials which to his chagrin result in his being declared mad, leaving our Evelyn penniless and broken by her honest testimony which saves her husband\u2019s life and her subsequent dumping by both her mother and millionaire step mother.\u00a0 The beginnings of tabloidism and sensationalism in public trials and the expose of the lives of the rich and famous.<\/p>\n

          Intelligence in War\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Keegan<\/h2>\n

          Nelson\u2019s intelligence in his pursuit of and destruction of the French fleet at Aboukir Bay, Stonewall Jackson\u2019s use of local knowledge in his brilliant campaign in The Shenandoah Valley.<\/p>\n

          If you take warfare as the norm of relationships between societies then this shows the value of knowing more about the enemy that they do.<\/p>\n

          The Concrete Blonde\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Connelly<\/h2>\n

          A very effective and enjoyable thriller.<\/p>\n

          Fatherland\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Harris<\/h2>\n

          A fine mystery science fiction where Hitler and the Nazis are still in power in the sixties in Germany and most of Russia.\u00a0\u00a0 A German detective aids an American journalist to expose the hidden history of the mysterious disappearance of the Jews which has been successfully covered up.<\/p>\n

          Holiday Reading\u00a0 mid-June \u2013 mid July<\/h1>\n

          On the plane I re-read on my Reader:<\/p>\n

          God is Not Great\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Hitchens<\/h2>\n

          Parts of.\u00a0\u00a0 A nice sequel to reading the rather prolix Dawkins.\u00a0 Dawkins jabs his finger at you in the urgency of his persuasion, Hitchens sits back with a martini and laconically skewers the world of Deism.<\/p>\n

          Paradise Lost \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Milton<\/h2>\n

          Still as beautiful \u2013 and as baffling as religion.\u00a0 There was a War in Heaven??\u00a0 And the losers are chained in hell to torment mankind so that they can have Free Will.\u00a0\u00a0 This to overcome the argument that an omniscient God might prevent untold misery and if he can foretell everything that why cannot he forewarn.\u00a0\u00a0 An argument beautifully dissected by Dawkins\u00a0\u00a0 Still as science fiction narrative poetry it is ineffable.\u00a0 Although ineff is ineff\u2026.<\/p>\n

          The Sonnets of Shakespeare.<\/h2>\n

          Hadn\u2019t read them in sequence in living memory \u2013 the first twenty five of them are addressed to some friendly aristo begging him to marry and reproduce his own beauty before it is too late.\u00a0 Interesting.\u00a0 I\u2019ll continue and maybe then read a book about with speculation as to identities and reasons\u00a0\u00a0 They make excellent plane fodder.\u00a0\u00a0 His ability to make perfect and instant poetry\u00a0 which read easily and understandably without recourse to high flown poetic language is what marks him out as the highest poet and a natural to continue this talent into the poetic drama.<\/p>\n

          Snuff\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chuck Pahlaniuk<\/h2>\n

          Actually I found this rather distasteful and sensationalist and abandoned it.<\/p>\n

          Who knows, next year I might find it a great work of art\u2026<\/p>\n

          When You Are Engulfed in Flames\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Sedaris<\/h2>\n

          And I find this chap vastly over rated and also abandoned his \u201chumor\u201d which of course has no second u.<\/p>\n

          In France<\/h1>\n

          Bobby Fischer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Biography<\/h2>\n

          I started this but lost interest quite quickly.\u00a0 Sad.<\/p>\n

          Dance for the Dead\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

          I sometimes think of Thomas Perry as The Ancient Mariner.<\/p>\n

          He grabs you with his tale and you are unable to go on with even the most pressing appointment until he has finished.<\/p>\n

          This is a Jane Whitefield novel \u2013 she is the Seneca Indian who helps people disappear from nasty people.\u00a0\u00a0 As so often with Tom this is about the Hunt \u2013 powerful people chasing down the weak and reasonably innocent.\u00a0\u00a0 Jane appears as the avenging angel<\/p>\n

          Blood Money \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

          He gave me his latest Jane Whitefield Novel before I left but I had two here in France so thought I would catch up.\u00a0 The thriller clich\u00e9 is you just can\u2019t put it down, but with Tom the tension never lets up.\u00a0 The image is usually the hunt.\u00a0\u00a0 In this book Jane is trying to protect the na\u00efve abandoned childlike Rita and Bernie the Elephant, whose prodigious memory has hidden the accounts of billions of dollars of Mafia money.\u00a0 They will give the money to charity and post letters and checks from around the country until finally one of the Mafia groups catches up with her.\u00a0 He never cheats, his observations and perceptions of people are always spot on.\u00a0 Unlike say\u00a0 this next book\u2026.<\/p>\n

          The Quickie\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Patterson<\/h2>\n

          It\u2019s not the genre it\u2019s the author.\u00a0\u00a0 This reads like clich\u00e9.\u00a0 Not poorly written, well a bit, but obviously written.\u00a0\u00a0 The writing is in an arresting style (obviously about the PD) but it\u2019s also very close to self -parody.\u00a0 I wanted to know what happened next and was irritated not to find out.\u00a0\u00a0 Something that never happens with Thomas Perry.\u00a0 This is a form of artificial writing that is the equivalent of popular television.\u00a0\u00a0 I am unsure I shall finish it<\/p>\n

          Murder in Amsterdam\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian Buruma<\/h2>\n

          The chilling deaths of Theo Van Gogh by a Moroccan Dutchman and the earlier death of Pym Fortuyn \u2013by a deranged animal rightist,\u00a0 both, very Dutch cycling to their deaths raises alarming questions of the nature of Western society to embrace a culture such as Islam which doesn\u2019t accept its prevailing mores.\u00a0\u00a0 When does racism begin and rationalism end?\u00a0 Are we witnessing a de-colonialisation movement within the old colonies?<\/p>\n

          The Scramble for Africa\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Pakenham<\/h2>\n

          Again the theme of colonialisation.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s what we do.\u00a0 Here in their urgency to grab territory and empires \u2013 for financial as well as political reasons \u2013 the European powers at least justify their incursions into Africa by the moral claim that they are attempting to destroy slavery which is a very African enterprise, run by the Sultan of Zanzibar.\u00a0\u00a0 The American clich\u00e9 of British slavers is completely wrong \u2013 of course the US maintained the slave trade almost a century after some Brits were attempting to eliminate it.<\/p>\n

          Here the story commences with the saintly Livingstone really rescued by the Welsh born but American raised intrepid and vastly energetic Stanley \u2013 who will take over the role left by Livingstone in tracing the Geography of the interior and the track of the Congo to the Atlantic.\u00a0\u00a0 Worth remembering that tribe fought tribe throughout Africa, constantly and that it was not some kind of Edenic world destroyed by European tribalism, but that tribal warfare is itself endemic to all human societies.\u00a0 The story switches to the ambitious Leopold of the Belgians who is searching for a home for his capital and something bigger to rule.,\u00a0\u00a0 His eyes light up on hypocrisy (the African Council for world peace\u2026) and the Congo.\u00a0\u00a0 Stanley \u2013 who has been trying to convince the Brits to buy it \u2013 finds his Belgian supporter and the source of many future woes, while the British badgering of the bullying Boers leads to further acres of future disaster.\u00a0\u00a0 Deserting the Zulus and provoking a war with a Dutch ought to be enough for any Disraeli\/Gladstone government \u2013 but the fact is the man on the spot was all too often determined to subvert governmental policy in dreams of Indian Empire building.<\/p>\n

          The Yiddish Policeman\u2019s Union\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Chabon<\/h2>\n

          Well I was dead wrong about this last year.\u00a0 In fact I had barely progressed beyond four chapters. I fell into it again this year and then immediately re-read it from the beginning.\u00a0 It is a fabulous novel.\u00a0 His stylish writing simply illuminates the page.\u00a0\u00a0 I loved every second of it and flew through this story of a fictitious Jewish community in Alaska part of a fictitious history where Israel failed to be established in 1948 and where the survivors were given a part of Alaska. \u00a0Jewish detective Landsman his native Indian partner Beko and former married partner Bina attempt to locate who killed the Rebbe\u2019s son Mendel, a prospective Messiah, who was about to be used by the radical Verbover group to blow up the Mosque where Abraham almost stabbed Isaac, the traditional site of the Temple of Jerusalem.\u00a0\u00a0 I shall not reveal who did it as I shall almost certainly read it again.\u00a0\u00a0 Chess, mysticism, millennialism, and lots and lots of Jews, or Yids as they refer to each other.\u00a0\u00a0 Yes, a great novel.<\/p>\n

          A Commonwealth of Thieves\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Keneally<\/h2>\n

          Fatal Shore.\u00a0\u00a0 Highly readable account of the transports and the nightmare voyage to Botany Bay –\u00a0 though soon to be Sydney Cove thanks to the redoubtable Philips, the only reason they survive at all.\u00a0\u00a0 I have always loved the bizarre scene of the French fleet sailing into to Botany Bay just two weeks after they have got there, the moment the British fleet are pulling out to sail round the corner into the finest natural harbour in the world.\u00a0 This is a harsh world to survive in, harvests are poor, floggings frequent, many are hanged for stealing stores.\u00a0\u00a0 It is by no means certain they can hold out until relief ships arrive with provisions.<\/p>\n

          The nightmare of the second Fleet with its financial motivated company cutting corners to make a living out of the dead \u2013 they could claim more for them as they never ate any rations\u2013 this is truly a survivors tale.\u00a0\u00a0 The sight of the poor wretches being carried off the ships on arrival, mainly too weak to live is wonderfully written by the novelist.\u00a0\u00a0 Kenneally\u2019s theory is that enclosures caused the rise of the criminality that results in the overcrowded British prisons which is the problem behind the decision to send the inmates of the battered hulks anchored in the leaky English shipping lanes in the harshest winters south to a one way ticket to oblivion.\u00a0 If this is true it is certainly ironic that the first thing they do is to enclose the commons of the indigenous people who react with tribal violence (in ways impossible for another culture to understand to punish those who break their communal laws of property (and fish.)\u00a0\u00a0 I have always enjoyed the rain soaked orgy which followed the arrival of the male and female prisoners ashore.\u00a0\u00a0 A white corroboree which seems to set the tone of what will emerge as Australia, a tough sexual active no nonsense society based on no civilising illusions burned by the terrible survival experience of those dumped on the shores of this strange nether world.\u00a0\u00a0 A great book.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          On the plane to Paris and then to Houston I reread: –<\/p>\n

          Fifty Two Pick up\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          Which I realise I must have read on another plane journey recently \u2013 probably to Australia \u2013 but which I could recall the ending of.\u00a0\u00a0 For once!<\/p>\n

          A good book and I shall finish it again on the way home from Houston.\u00a0 Which I did and thoroughly loved.\u00a0 One of his earliest and most memorable books.<\/p>\n

          A Partisans Daughter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Louis de Bernieres<\/h2>\n

          Bought at Paris airport.\u00a0 Read in Houston.<\/p>\n

          A great couple of chapters open the book setting up a tale of a married Englishman for a sexy Serb, but sadly degenerates into a not at all convincing narrative of her Yugoslavian youth,\u00a0\u00a0 He simply loses the drama of his narrative in his social and sexual history of Roza the squatter and the book falls apart.\u00a0 Pity as he has great writing skills but seems to have lost the taste for it.<\/p>\n

          The Ghost\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Harris<\/h2>\n

          A simply brilliant thriller about a Ghost-writer drawn into finishing the work of his predecessor who has wound up drowned off Martha\u2019s vineyard while working on the memoirs of a Blair-like Prime Minister.\u00a0 The style is clear and precise and Buchan like, with the narrative driving us every step of the way through the unflinching portrayal of a UK PM accused of war crimes and the ultimate revelation of why the unflinching support for the insane US policies in the Gulf and Iraq which puzzles us all, did take place despite the strong opposition to it in the UK.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          I was only disturbed from my headlong reading by the sudden intrusion of a familiar lyric from Cambridge \u2013 yes one I wrote in 1965 \u2013 with John Cameron \u2013 for out final farewell appearance at a Footlights smoker:\u00a0\u00a0 Cheer Oh Cambridge, a boaters and cane parody of a Footlights Farwell from the Thirties.\u00a0\u00a0 Slightly shocking to come across your own work and I shall have to write to him\u2026.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          I did.\u00a0 On Twitter.\u00a0 In 2019.\u00a0 And he was suitable kind.\u00a0 He does recognise it was satirical.\u00a0\u00a0 But it is supposed to be at the same time as the Miner\u2019s strike. 1971.\u00a0 Which it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

          May thru June<\/h1>\n

          Netherland\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph O\u2019Neill<\/h2>\n

          A simply brilliant book about a cricket-loving Dutch Manhattan inhabitant who investigates and explores the mystery of a West Indian friends disappearance.\u00a0\u00a0 I was inspired to buy six copies to send to friends.<\/p>\n

          The Loved One\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh<\/h2>\n

          As brilliant as ever<\/p>\n

          The Discovery of France Graham Robb<\/h2>\n

          A Historical Geography from the Revolution to WW1.\u00a0 An interesting whetting off the appetite for Francophiles approaching the subject with interest.\u00a0 Driving through the Gorge de Verdon my pleasure was enhanced by knowing something of the history of its discovery and exploitation.<\/p>\n

          The God Delusion\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Dawkins<\/h2>\n

          Illusion would have been kinder but Dawkins is not out to be kind.\u00a0 He has been attacked enough by the Templeton Trust and the legions of financially well-endowed Evangelical idiots who deny Evolution.\u00a0\u00a0 He demolishes the cases for God, but most usefully illustrates the lies and propaganda spread about the so called gaps in Evolution.\u00a0 There is no evidence for the existence of God.\u00a0\u00a0 Simple as that.\u00a0\u00a0 The brilliant Theory of Evolution (a theory in the same sense as gravitation, and quantum mechanics)\u00a0 and our latest scientific understanding and knowledge of what we can only glimpses of the Universe leaves the Conjurer God idea flapping in the dirt.\u00a0\u00a0 The Universe is far more complex and far more grand than any angry bearded middle Eastern patriarchal imaginary friend.<\/p>\n

          The Story of Civilization\u00a0 VI The Reformation\u00a0\u00a0 Will Durant<\/h2>\n

          Mainly the chapters on Henry V111.\u00a0 What a monster.\u00a0 Unchecked power.<\/p>\n

          Of course researching after The Tudors\u2026<\/p>\n

          Six Wives.\u00a0\u00a0 The Queens of Henry VIII\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Starkey<\/h2>\n

          Detailed and up to date reworking of the endlessly popular theme.\u00a0 Most of the story is of course about Anne.\u00a0 Many excellent new bits which seem heavily featured in the Tudors, from which they have clearly drawn.<\/p>\n

          The Diana Chronicles\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tina Brown<\/h2>\n

          Re- read and annotated for potential opera.\u00a0 The book is great.\u00a0 But the story is religion manifesting itself again.\u00a0 The icon, the private goddess.\u00a0 Anne Boleyn meets Anne of Cleves.\u00a0\u00a0 The tragedy of the sexually unappealing wife.\u00a0\u00a0 Not exactly Grand Opera.\u00a0 Certainly comic Opera, but far too dangerous to be playing with.\u00a0 Though I love the idea \u2013 of a dim grandchild of Barbara Cartland, polluted by her pestilential ideas of romance, and growing up to pay for it,\u00a0 and it\u2019s many nuances, with The Princess and the Prince, The Princess and the Sheik, and the Princess and the Crew of the Royal Yacht Britannia – it\u2019s pure trouble.\u00a0\u00a0 After discussion JDP and I decided to back off.\u00a0\u00a0 I still love my notes and ideas.<\/p>\n

          American Dream\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Norman Mailer<\/h2>\n

          American wet dream more like.\u00a0\u00a0 He says it\u2019s written like Dickens for Esquire \u2013 but more like Dickens for Hustler.\u00a0\u00a0 Sexploitation.\u00a0 He can write like a charm and yet wrestles with his own ego constantly tripping up into drunken rants and a desire to stab or butt fuck his way through the world\u2019s women.<\/p>\n

          A Sentimental Education\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Flaubert<\/h2>\n

          Yet once again I started this and then left off again.\u00a0\u00a0 As I wrote before I am not such a Flaubert fan as Dickens and Balzac.\u00a0\u00a0 What is it about Flaubert? \u2013 too prolix, too many arcane disruptions, too slow to get to the scene?<\/p>\n

          The Postman\u00a0 (Il Postino)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Antonio Skarmeta<\/h2>\n

          The sweet Chilean story of the postman who delivers letters to the poet Marquez on Isla Negra, involving him in his passion for the local beauty and relishing in the glory of his Scandinavian Nobel Prize and his Parisian honours.\u00a0 The book behind the beautiful film, but here the Commune idyll is brutally ruined by the coup against Allende and the overthrow of the popular democratic movement with the arrival of the brutal dictatorship of Pinochet.\u00a0\u00a0 An idyllic moment in Chilean history destroyed by the greed of the Capitalist Military Junta.\u00a0\u00a0 Elegaic.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          March thru April<\/h1>\n

          On Beauty\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Zadie Smith<\/em><\/h1>\n

          I really like this novel.\u00a0\u00a0 It is based on her acknowledged love for E. M. Forster and indeed echoes Howard\u2019s End both in it\u2019s start and it\u2019s story and it\u2019s structure.<\/p>\n

          \u201cWe might as well begin with Jerome\u2019s email to his father.\u201d<\/p>\n

          Here Jerome has fallen headlong in love with the unsuitable Vee as Helen falls for the unsuitable Paul, but both have in fact \u201cfallen in love with a family.\u201d Jerome is the child of Howard (sic!) who hates the Politically incorrect right wing lecturer Kipps.\u00a0\u00a0 They are black family \u2013 Howard married to black wife so mixed kids.\u00a0\u00a0 Clashes in the College world of Boston.<\/p>\n

          She includes a poem On Beauty by her husband so it is a self aware novel \u2013\u00a0 there is even a character called Emerson (from a Room with a View)<\/p>\n

          Mrs Wilcox (Kipps) dies leaving her favourite painting to Kiki \u2013 (Howards End) the evidence for which the family destroys.<\/p>\n

          I find the book complimentary in both senses \u2013 it completes and praises.<\/p>\n

          Howard\u2019s End\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E. M. Forster<\/em><\/h1>\n

          So of course I had to re read this.\u00a0 I had not realised that Only Connect in fact is referring to making connections within one self.\u00a0\u00a0 Here is the key sentence: \u201cshe might yet be able to\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the building of the rainbow bridge that should connect the prose in us with the passion.\u00a0 Without it we are meaningless fragments, half monks, half beasts, unconnected arches that have never joined into a man.\u00a0 \u2026\u2026.Only connect the prose and the passion and both will be exalted.\u201d<\/p>\n

          The art of the novel is making meaning out of the trivia of everyday existence.\u00a0 Forster admits sex into the equation, placing him in the tradition of Hardy \u2013 though not so obscure \u2013 more forthright, more honest, more observant.\u00a0 Not yet Lawrence but from now on the novel will almost always be about the sexual activity of mankind \u2013 if it hasn\u2019t always\u2026<\/p>\n

          A Prisoner of Birth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeffery Archer<\/h2>\n

          You might argue that Jeffery should be jailed for his writing\u2026..\u00a0 My very sweet friend Chris Beetles got him to sign this for me, and even told him I had read it.\u00a0\u00a0 (I told you he was sweet.)\u00a0\u00a0 However I did manage to speed read through about half of it while a rat gnawed my stomach.\u00a0\u00a0 In the end I preferred the rat\u2026.<\/p>\n

          Irreligion\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Allen Paulos<\/em><\/h1>\n

          A mathematician explains why the arguments for God just don\u2019t add up.<\/p>\n

          So the imaginary friend does not exist.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Time to move on for this species \u2013<\/p>\n

          before the seriously demented destroy us all in the name of God.\u00a0\u00a0 In many<\/p>\n

          cases these inner voices are indeed pure madness.<\/p>\n

          What\u2019s wrong with the ineffable amazement of the extraordinary Galaxy<\/p>\n

          and Universe in which we find ourselves and which no thanks to religion we<\/p>\n

          have learned incredible amounts about in a tiny amount of time and which<\/p>\n

          knowledge dwarves our concepts of any God.<\/p>\n

          Fidelity\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

          Tom gave me the proof edition of his latest.\u00a0 A private eye is killed and his widow pursues the killer \u2013 a wealthy San Franciscan into underage girls.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0Hyssop\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kevin McIlvoy<\/h2>\n

          The Executor\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Kruger<\/h2>\n

          How To Read A Novel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Sutherland<\/h2>\n

          Fairly fatuous obvious observations by a Booker prize reader.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The most interesting detail is Banville\u2019s unprecedented attack on Ian McEwan in the New York Post, the first American review of Saturday<\/em>, <\/strong>which led to The Booker being won by \u2013oh how odd – Banville\u2019s The Sea<\/em>!\u00a0 The review as self publicity.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Envy is one thing \u2013 Saturday <\/em>was already a best seller in the UK and Banville was publishing his own tome shortly \u2013 but to attempt to destroy the US market for a rival\u2026well I guess that\u2019s the literary world\u2026.<\/p>\n

          Reminds me I was laughing out loud at The LA Times critic (Turow?) bemoaning the fact that film critics were a dying breed\u2026.awww.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0Against Happiness\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eric G. Wilson<\/h2>\n

          Arguments in favour of melancholia.\u00a0 Usual anxieties about drugs curing anxieties\u2026\u00a0 Get over it.<\/p>\n

          The Second Plane\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/h2>\n

          September 11:\u00a0 Terror and Boredom<\/p>\n

          Essays and observations on 9\/11.\u00a0 The best of which is the imaginative reconstruction narrative of Muhammad Atta\u2019s last few days.<\/p>\n

          Also he travels with the Blair.<\/p>\n

          Nothing to Be frightened of.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Barnes<\/h2>\n

          Memento mori.\u00a0 A memoir about Brothers and Death.\u00a0 But mainly his fear of death, which seems all pervading.\u00a0\u00a0 Get over it dear.<\/p>\n

          House of Meetings\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/h2>\n

          Also about Brothers and Death.\u00a0 In the Gulag.\u00a0 Two brothers share love for one woman Tanya.\u00a0 But the younger gets her and the older resents it forever.\u00a0\u00a0 Mike Nichols sent it to me.\u00a0\u00a0 Re-read year later.<\/p>\n

          Rise and Shine\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anna Quindlen<\/h2>\n

          This one is about sisters and it is a beautiful New York novel \u2013 with ironic glimpses of the sound proofed New York wealthy society.\u00a0 It is also about truth telling \u2013 to power and beyond.\u00a0 The Diane- Sawyer- like Meghan, a morning TV hostess, inadvertently says what she thinks on air, causing a scandal and a change of life.\u00a0\u00a0 She calls an asshole an asshole and we see the hypocritical way showbiz society demands recompense from those it pedestalises.\u00a0 She runs and hides in Jamaica.\u00a0 Her son pays for it with his legs.\u00a0 Written by the Austen-like younger sister, who gets a decent man and twins this is an ironic study of emotion in modern successful Americans, and the strange anomie at the heart of success.<\/p>\n

          The Uncommon Reader\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alan Bennett<\/h2>\n

          The Queen inadvertently picks up a book and learns to become a human being through reading.\u00a0 So evolved in fact that she abdicates.\u00a0\u00a0 A delightful squib full of delicate writing by Monsieur Bennett.<\/p>\n

          The Master\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 Colm Toibin<\/h2>\n

          Mike gave me this for my birthday (along with the new translation of War and Peace).\u00a0 I didn\u2019t get very far with it, since it is about Henry James and I have zero interest in the man even in fiction.<\/p>\n

          Tranquil Star\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Primo Levi<\/h2>\n

          Beautiful collection of last short stories.\u00a0 Now he was a master.<\/p>\n

          Human Smoke\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nicholson Baker<\/h2>\n

          A unique work of modern history.\u00a0\u00a0 Written in a series of tiny vignettes \u2013 some only a paragraph long \u2013 as the events leading to World War Two show us how history is re-written by the victors.\u00a0\u00a0 The inevitable way the US brought on Pearl Harbour, and how it was British bombings of German Cities that led to the destruction of Coventry.\u00a0\u00a0 A fascinating book from a man who believes pacifism was justified even in WW2.<\/p>\n

          Ladies Man\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Price<\/h2>\n

          A seventies novel I lost interest in.<\/p>\n

          Vanishing Act\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

          A June Whitefield Novel.<\/p>\n

          June Whitefield helps people hide.\u00a0\u00a0 Here she hunts down the man who exposes her secret network of people who help her hide people.<\/p>\n

          Christine Falls\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Benjamin Black\u00a0 (John Banville)<\/h2>\n

          Written under an assumed name, I will have to finish reading it under an assumed name\u2026\u00a0 (Actually I think I got to like it, but haven\u2019t found the assumed name yet.\u00a0 I certainly galloped through the sequel.)<\/p>\n

          Elizabeth and Leicester\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sarah Gristwood<\/h2>\n

          A very fine piece of historical writing.<\/p>\n

          L. A. Mirage\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anne Lambton<\/h2>\n

          I didn\u2019t get very far with Anne\u2019s book.\u00a0 Nothing against it.<\/p>\n

          A Cellarful of Noise\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brian Epstein<\/h2>\n

          I believe ghost written by Derek (Taylor) \u2013 a sweet nostalgic read for someone researching Rutles.\u00a0\u00a0 This is a nice first edition I found.\u00a0 Poor Leggy \u2013 dead at 32.\u00a0\u00a0 Better he went to Australia.<\/p>\n

          Hippie Hippie Shake\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Neville<\/h2>\n

          About the third time he has shared the secrets of the Oz Trial.\u00a0 I hadn\u2019t realised how he pulled the same attention seeking trick in Oz.\u00a0\u00a0 But he exaggerates the importance of himself and this trial.\u00a0 Sweet man though he be.<\/p>\n

          Paris\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Andrew Hussey<\/h2>\n

          The Secret History.<\/p>\n

          Great.<\/p>\n

          Love of Seven Dolls\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Gallico.<\/h2>\n

          The Old Curiosity Shop\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles Dickens<\/h2>\n

          I never really liked this novel, and never got very far with it.\u00a0 I was pleased to see in the BBC version that I also lost interest and stopped watching.\u00a0 What is it Oscar Wilde said about Little Nell\u2026?\u00a0 ‘One would have to have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without dissolving into tears…of laughter.’<\/p>\n

          Tolkien\u2019s Gown\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rick Gekoski<\/h2>\n

          I had already read this but the author gave me a signed copy at the Book Fair and it was sweet of him.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          January thru February<\/h1>\n

          Clapton\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eric Clapton\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (E-Book)<\/h2>\n

          A strange creature \u2013 both him and the book, in which he reveals himself as being rather less interesting than one supposed.\u00a0\u00a0 Somewhere along the way I read the Patti Clapton\/Harrison book\u00a0 which is not that bad.\u00a0\u00a0 Just stupid.\u00a0\u00a0 I wanted to read Eric\u2019s version of events and was disappointed to find out that he doesn\u2019t like himself.\u00a0\u00a0 And he paints himself in a poor light.\u00a0\u00a0 And you really don\u2019t like him.\u00a0 This is sad.<\/p>\n

          Wonderful Tonight\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patti Clapton<\/h2>\n

          Liv and Dahni went spare about this book but it is far worse in extract with all the gossipy bits dragged out and pasted together in a tabloid.\u00a0 I decided it couldn\u2019t really be trusted when she wrote I went down to dinner with George and her in their house in Esher, something that really never happened\u2026.<\/p>\n

          The Red Badge of Courage\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Crane<\/h2>\n

          An amazing book.\u00a0 A novel of war written by a poet.\u00a0\u00a0 It is his use of verbs that is staggering to me.<\/p>\n

          God Is Not Great\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Hitchens\u00a0 (E-Book)<\/h2>\n

          Re \u2013read with glee<\/p>\n

          Rites of Peace\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Adam Zamoyski<\/h2>\n

          The Fall of Napoleon and The Congress of Vienna.<\/p>\n

          Almost as long as the Congress of Vienna and at times almost as tiresome, this fulsome account of the dance of the Czars and The Kings of Austria and the rise of the new state of Prussia and the machinations of Metternich and Castlereagh and Talleyrand et al is made up for by the sexual shenanigans and the Balls and the shagging which prove that the Congress of Vienna was indeed a sexual position.\u00a0\u00a0 A very interesting account of how self interest and personalities dictate foreign policy, which set the stage for the rise of Germany and the eventual horror and devastation of Hitler.<\/p>\n

          Tom Cruise<\/h2>\n

          A highly readable account of the life of this fairly gifted actor.\u00a0 You begin by liking him and his struggle to break out and succeed in his life and you want him defended from the fall out of fame, but gradually as the marriage with Nicole Kidman breaks up and the clouds draw in and the Scientology succubae suck him into a maelstrom of highly unhealthy proto-Nazism with his little weird pal Miscavige (of Justice) you see what fame, and paranoia and sheer madness can do to unhinge an actor \u2013 someone who has precious little grasp of their centre anyway.<\/p>\n

          This is a very clear example of how this malign cult is a genuine threat to society.<\/p>\n

          The King\u2019s Cardinal<\/h2>\n

          The\u00a0 very long\u00a0 life of Cardinal Wolsey<\/h4>\n

          Was ever a book so looked forward to and yet so summarily dismissed?\u00a0 Was ever a book so overpriced\u2013 its value inflated from seven pounds to 98 dollars, and yet so mouldy and smelly when it finally arrived, its prose as dry as dishwater, it\u2019s tale as poorly told as printed.\u00a0 I can\u2019t believe I spent so long looking for this book, and so quickly chucked it\u2026.<\/p>\n

          All The Sad Young Men\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald.<\/h2>\n

          A wonderful collection of short stories, published immediately after Gatsby this is a first edition from 1926 I picked up for $5,000 from the antique book market.<\/p>\n

          The Rich Boy<\/em> contains that most famous quotation<\/p>\n

          \u201cLet me tell you about the very rich.\u00a0\u00a0 They are different from you and me.\u201d<\/p>\n

          And tells the sad tale of Anson, who suffers from a superiority complex.<\/p>\n

          The increasing difficulties he has to commit to love \u2013 that prevent him living a happy and fulfilled life, and may be described as the tragedy of the rich, so that at the end he is driven desperately to find someone \u2013 anyone –\u00a0 to spend an evening with him \u2013 this is a wonderfully observed despair about a certain kind of person, out of touch with his own feelings.<\/p>\n

          \u201cI don\u2019t think he was ever happy unless some one was in love with him, responding to him like filings to a magnet, helping him to explain himself, promising him something.\u00a0 What it was I do not know.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps they promised that there would always be women in the world who would spend their brightest, freshest, rarest hours to nurse and protect that superiority he cherished in his heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

          Winter Dreams<\/em> is a complimentary story about the female equivalent.\u00a0 A girl who rides roughshod over boys, getting her way through seducing them and yet dropping them and moving on to the next, a kind of serial flirtation, that reinforces her sense of power, and extracts the tribute due to beauty \u2013 even at the casual hurting of fellow women.\u00a0\u00a0 These seem to be very modern types observed by Fitzgerald for the first time.\u00a0 Perhaps thrown up by the vast change in American society following the doughboys disappearance into France.\u00a0 The stories are about entitlement, plus a nostalgia for the innocence of lost youth and the vanished opportunities of a bright future, now gone forever, in the land where his winter dreams once flourished.<\/p>\n

          He seems to be able to tell story almost entirely through metaphor\u2026. Extraordinarily fine writing.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2007<\/h3>\n

          Ctrl-Alt- 1-2-3<\/h3>\n

          January thru February<\/h1>\n

          Wittgenstein\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Avrum Stroll<\/h2>\n

          Excellent summary of the life and philosophy<\/p>\n

          The Trial of Queen Caroline\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jane Robins<\/h2>\n

          The scandalous affair that nearly ended the Monarchy.\u00a0 The ugly wife of the big fat twat Prince Regent and his attempts to ditch her once he became George IV, showing that the British taste for Royal scandal and intrigue was always strong.\u00a0 She, despite a string of affairs with swarthy Italians and foreigners all round Europe, improbably and implacably enjoyed the full support of the British people, perhaps a measure of how much this profligate selfish Prince of Pleasure was disliked.\u00a0 To sue for adultery while his many wide mistresses were the talk of the town is perhaps the measure of the man.<\/p>\n

          Ungrateful Daughters\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maureen Walter<\/h2>\n

          The Stuart Princesses Who Stole Their Father\u2019s Crown.\u00a0 The fall of the Catholic James 11, brother of the rather more attractive Charles, betrayed and deposed by his son in law, the prig (and possibly poofy) Dutch William who was married to his daughter Mary (all from Mary Stuart) and sister of the rather less pleasant Anne, who spread the lying rumours of the bed pan baby birth of the Pretender Charles.\u00a0\u00a0 Anne meanwhile with her very odd relationship with Sarah Duchess of Marlborough, (and the rather turn-coaty military genius Duke) had seventeen miscarriages and still births in seventeen years \u2013 clearing the way for the Hanoverian succession of George 1st<\/sup> \u2013 all Catholics having been excluded by law.<\/p>\n

          The Fire\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jorg Friedrich<\/h2>\n

          The Bombing of Germany 1940-1945.\u00a0 This book is just too depressing to read.\u00a0 An endless story of constant civilian bombing against more than ninety cities of Germany, and the firestorms that were deliberately started to kill as many civilians as possible.\u00a0\u00a0 Surely such evil cannot be justified by \u201cthey started it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The wholesale destruction of Medieval Germany is only a small part of the horror and terror waged in the name of freedom.\u00a0\u00a0 It is as well to remember that indiscriminate bombing from the sky (and there is no other sort) is always<\/em> terror, no matter in what name or clich\u00e9 it may be unleashed.\u00a0\u00a0 Shaming, and shaking and deeply disturbing.<\/p>\n

          The Death of Tragedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 George Steiner<\/h2>\n

          A swift re-reading, of this perhaps too texturally argued thesis.\u00a0 Rather an odd theory, including the strange idea that Judaism cannot embrace tragedy because of God.\u00a0 But suppose for a moment that that was a mistaken concept.\u00a0 And if there is no contemporary Jewish tragedy then what is Death of a Salesman<\/em> or Glengarry Glen Ross<\/em>?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So then, brilliant, but wrong.<\/p>\n

          Medieval Lives\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Terry Jones & Alan Eriera<\/h2>\n

          A highly readable and entertaining view of history.\u00a0\u00a0 Terry always takes the converse view, which is what gives him his heart and his humanity.\u00a0 But here this oddly leads him to defend Kingship, and distrust democracy, which is something I would not have predicted.\u00a0 He is always interested in the quirky and the bizarre, and is only predictable when he takes the part of evidently homicidal weirdoes like Richard 3rd<\/sup>, whom I suspect very much of being history\u2019s highest born serial killer.\u00a0\u00a0 And that if anything Shakespeare overlooked many of his misdeeds.\u00a0\u00a0 It is no use using the city of York to defend Richard of York.\u00a0\u00a0 Of course they liked him there.\u00a0 They liked Giuliani in New York\u2026<\/p>\n

          The Planets\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dava Sobel<\/h2>\n

          A slightly touchy-feely gallop through the solar system, with many interesting facts and perhaps just a little too much breathy goshness about the whole thing. Though I did enjoy this, Carey\u2019s Christmas gift to me.<\/p>\n

          American Fascists\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chris Hedges<\/h2>\n

          The Christian Right and the War on America.\u00a0 I sped read my way through this, which is a slightly shrill and hysterical, though none the less true, account of how America is being undermined perhaps in the same way as Rome, and by the same perverse religion\u2026<\/p>\n

          A Handful of Dust\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh<\/h2>\n

          Once again seduced by the brilliance of the prose in the opening of this novel to read\u00a0 at least half again.\u00a0 It becomes depressing and very personal.\u00a0\u00a0 And it\u2019s hard to read it as jolly comedy.<\/p>\n

          Not To Disturb\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          Nice first edition I found.\u00a0\u00a0 Something about a Butler and so on.<\/p>\n

          The Nobel Lecture in Literature\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J.M.Coetzee<\/h2>\n

          A rather fine little monograph, endearingly about how proud his mum would have been.<\/p>\n

          Vile Bodies\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh<\/h2>\n

          Edward 11\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Marlowee<\/h2>\n

          Running Scared\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John L. Sullivan<\/h2>\n

          The unofficial biography of Steve Wynn.\u00a0 Reasons to be fearful.<\/p>\n

          And careful.<\/p>\n

          Housekeeping vs The Dirt\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nick Hornby<\/h2>\n

          Maintaining his reputation for dangerously irrelevant titles this is a collection of his entirely readable articles in The Believer.\u00a0 Such a fan am I that I plonked down for a season ticket to the rag only to be deserted by the Arsenal Fan plunging into a sabbatical.\u00a0\u00a0 It had better be a good book he has written, or perhaps a long epic poem starring Hans Lehman.\u00a0 Or maybe he just moved to a new stadium and here the Arsenal gags must definitely stop. Because the rest of the mag is fairly ordinary stuff masquerading as modernism.\u00a0 This however makes you want to read your eyes off.\u00a0\u00a0 He is so similar to me in his reading (and discarding) habits that at times I think it\u2019s me, except he is much cleverer and expresses himself far better.\u00a0 Always makes me want to buy books.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          March thru June<\/h1>\n

          Then We Came to The end\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joshua Ferris<\/h2>\n

          Though in fact I never did.\u00a0\u00a0 I enjoyed this novel about Office Life, recommended strongly by Hornby and then got a bit bored by it.<\/p>\n

          Assassination Vacation\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sarah Vowell<\/h2>\n

          Recommended by Hornby.\u00a0 His friend\u2019s trip round the assassination sites of American presidents.\u00a0 Too bad the habit dried up, muttered the Englishman sardonically, thinking of the C grade student and his shady friends.<\/p>\n

          The Partly Cloudy Patriot\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sarah Vowell<\/h2>\n

          Sadly a little goes a long way.\u00a0\u00a0 She has lots to say about a little<\/p>\n

          Take The Cannoli\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sarah Vowell<\/h2>\n

          Enough already.\u00a0 She is a journalist.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Ghosting\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jennie Erdal
          \n<\/em><\/strong>Disappointing.\u00a0 The novel as memoir.\u00a0 Not enough narrative drive.<\/p>\n

          The lead character Tiger is <\/em>dull.\u00a0 Problem when friends recommend friend\u2019s work.\u00a0 Hornby likes her<\/em> ergo he likes it.<\/em>\u00a0 Not good enough.<\/p>\n

          The Damned and the Saved\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Primo Levi<\/h2>\n

          Breathtaking.\u00a0\u00a0 And devastating.\u00a0 His last book.<\/p>\n

          Disturber of the Peace\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Manchester<\/h2>\n

          The Life and Riotous times of H. L. Mencken<\/p>\n

          Only dipped.\u00a0 Found a nice first edition.\u00a0 Maybe there wasn\u2019t a second!<\/p>\n

          The Damned United\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Peace<\/h2>\n

          Fictional version of the true story of Brian Clough taking over Leeds United \u2013 the team he hated most \u2013 with disastrous consequences.<\/p>\n

          Citizen Vince\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jess Walter<\/h2>\n

          Hornby recommend.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A good thriller.\u00a0\u00a0 Very well written.\u00a0 About a Crook.<\/p>\n

          The Zero\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jess Walter<\/h2>\n

          Sent me in search of this new book, which I found less than thrilling<\/p>\n

          Bambi vs Godzilla\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mamet<\/h2>\n

          I enjoyed these polemics against the all prevailing Producers of Movies.\u00a0\u00a0 Fortunately none of it matters since they are all only movies and not art.\u00a0 (Art being something created by individuals, not by committees of warring interests.)<\/p>\n

          How Soccer Explains The World\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Franklin Foer<\/h2>\n

          The back story behind the racist teams, Spurs love of Judaism, superstar Ref Collina, the facism of Real Madrid, the leftism of Barcelona, the Generals and Argentina etc etc.\u00a0\u00a0 Fine and fun.<\/p>\n

          I believe soccer demonstrates the moral force happening in the world before our eyes.\u00a0 So that there is some underlying meaning to life where beauty and force and strength and power are all important elements to successful outcomes\u2026.that there is a successful shape to evolution which involves beauty and truth and that the beautiful game not only represents this but channels testosterone competitiveness into useful and creative areas, instead of religion and bloodshed.\u00a0 We are only here because we successfully annihilated other species, and as we are our own predators there has to be someway we can channel this into healthy pursuits \u2013 hence the Olympic Games and soccer.\u00a0\u00a0 And I suppose in the ice bound states, the incredibly violent ice hockey.\u00a0 Though of course cricket is far from the sedate pastime non croyants believe\u2026<\/p>\n

          What Does Mrs Freeman want?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Petros Abatzoglou<\/h2>\n

          Who cares?<\/p>\n

          The Trojan War\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barry Strauss<\/h2>\n

          (Optimistically titled A New History)\u00a0\u00a0 From the Mustave school of historical writing.\u00a0 \u201cIt mustave been a great sight to see the sails swelling\u2026.<\/p>\n

          It mustave been a state dinner where Paris met Helen\u2026.<\/p>\n

          It mustave been an extraordinary day when\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

          Not history but historical drama masquerading as history.\u00a0\u00a0 And rather annoying\u2026<\/p>\n

          The Kingdom of Auschwitz\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Otto Friedrich<\/h2>\n

          Lest we forget what all mankind is capable of.\u00a0\u00a0 This is a chapter from his master work The End of the World.\u00a0\u00a0 Always worth re-reading.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0Peter Pan \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Barrie<\/h2>\n

          I love the way this turns into the moral dilemma of Hook, who having been at Eton (slyly referenced by a certain Wall Game) is troubled by the moral dilemma of Poor form<\/em>.<\/p>\n

          A very funny and effective novelisation of his own play, this delightful written and slyly satirical tale of the boy Pan and the \u201cmother\u201d Wendy has enough for several volumes of psychoanalysis.\u00a0 It seems fresh myth, spun out of a mythical golden period of Edwardian childhood, drawing on the Pan God in the same way Wind in The Willows<\/em> does.\u00a0 But the book is also filled with real violence from which Barrie does not shrink so it never becomes sentimental, unlike the work of his major \u201cborrower\u201d Spielberg.<\/p>\n

          On Chesnil Beach\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian McEwan<\/h2>\n

          A novella.\u00a0 And nicely done.\u00a0 Probably win the Booker.<\/p>\n

          At The Center of the Storm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 George Tenet<\/h2>\n

          My Years at the CIA<\/p>\n

          He didn\u2019t speak up when he could have and he didn\u2019t keep quiet when he should have.\u00a0 The weasely and self-serving memoirs of a second rate man in a fifth rate government.<\/p>\n

          The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edward Gibbon<\/h2>\n

          The perfect work of history.\u00a0\u00a0 Dipped in and out over the last two years.\u00a0\u00a0 So much to re enjoy.<\/p>\n

          The Zimmermann Telegram\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barbara Tuchman<\/h2>\n

          An almost perfect work of history.\u00a0\u00a0 In this delicate little book she dissects the crucial British intercept of the German naval code which enabled them to discover the Kaiser\u2019s plans to involve Mexico and Japan in a war against the US before Wilson (who was determined to avoid it) was forced to bring the US into WW1.\u00a0 The laying out of this proof, and the folly of not even denying it, despite the German and Irish-American cries of fake, made the end of the war inevitable, in the way the Junkers had ominously predicted for themselves yet still could not prevent.\u00a0\u00a0 History at times seems to be people stumbling inexorably towards the inevitable defeat that stares them in the face, which they somehow seem to deny.\u00a0 (cf The Bush years)\u00a0 Here it was the unleashing of the U-Boat on neutral shipping (i.e. US) to starve the British into submission.\u00a0\u00a0 A fascinating glimpse into another battlefield of that most terrible war.<\/p>\n

          The Meaning of Everything\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Simon Winchester<\/h2>\n

          A slightly less than gripping tale of the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary.<\/p>\n

          Put Out More Flags\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh<\/h2>\n

          I love this book.\u00a0\u00a0 It seems to me to bridge the two styles of Waugh from\u00a0 the bleakly satirical earlier novels, where he controls exactly how you think and respond to his characters, to the later more mature War time trilogy, where the characters breathe and survive more realistically and you can choose how to respond to them.\u00a0 Of course the eloquence of his writing is undiminished.\u00a0\u00a0 And his delightful humour \u2013 where the three pathetic Connollies are used by Basil Seal – billeted amongst the middle classes and then bribed away \u2013 is hysterical.\u00a0\u00a0 The book I have enjoyed most this year.<\/p>\n

          Divisadero\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Ondaatje<\/h2>\n

          I guess I liked it.\u00a0 But I forgot to write about it at the time, so now\u2026<\/p>\n

          A tale of two sisters.\u00a0\u00a0 Northern California.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Bangkok Haunts\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Burdett<\/h2>\n

          The thoroughly delightful and continuing exploits of Buddhist detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep, of the Royal Thai Police and the solving of the snuff film puzzle.<\/p>\n

          Tokyo Sucker Punch\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Isaac Adamson<\/h2>\n

          Martial Arts reporter in Tokyo mobster mystery.\u00a0\u00a0 Interesting first novel.<\/p>\n

          Tested on Orphans\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mamet<\/h2>\n

          Proved to this orphan that Mamet is no cartoonist\u2026\u00a0 Nice gift from Billy Connolly,\u00a0\u00a0 Autographed copy.<\/p>\n

          Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinary Literate\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eugene Ehrlich<\/h2>\n

          And yes I did read it and yes I will read it again so that I always remember what solipsism means to me\u2026<\/p>\n

          The I Chong\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tommy Chong<\/h2>\n

          Meditations from the joint.\u00a0 Sadly God was behind everything.\u00a0 He seems to have survived without really questioning anything very deeply, but this Canadian has certainly survived.<\/p>\n

          Restless \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd<\/h2>\n

          Oddly though I disliked this book on first attempt I enjoyed it the second time.\u00a0 Perhaps because it is in paperback.<\/p>\n

          Summer Reading<\/h1>\n

          July\u00a0 thru August<\/p>\n

          The Diana Chronicles\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tina Brown<\/h2>\n

          Impressively well written, flawlessly researched, and eminently readable.\u00a0 A classic biography.\u00a0 Finally the facts of the fairy tale, by one who is in a position to know, an English doyenne journalist who has spoken to everyone and has sufficient wit and judgement to assess the astounding multiple interests involved in the essentially tragic lives of Diana Spencer and Charles Not King, and the many conflicting and sentimental reasons they were thrown together.\u00a0\u00a0 This is Greek Royal Tragedy and it is with sympathy and concern that we watch the sad protagonists descend through the jaws of the paparazzi into public hell and humiliation and of course death.\u00a0 With the weird performance of Mohammed Al Fayed in his own Greek Comedy, a sickly funny Oedipus in Denial.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is almost an examining magistrates view of the events, and Tina Brown balances our tabloidal fascination with the world\u2019s model Princess (eerily echoing the death of Princess Grace) with the search for truth and reality.\u00a0 A great achievement.<\/p>\n

          Death of a Dissident\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko<\/h2>\n

          The not-particularly well-written but fascinating story of the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in London and the return of the KGB under the putain<\/em> Putin.\u00a0 The involved story of why Litvinenko, the ex- Kremlin agent, had to die and why they needed to kill him, written by a partisan supporter of Boris\u00a0 Berezovsky.\u00a0 The first stage of capitalism seems to lead inexorably to gangsterism.\u00a0 The conflicting gangs of new Russia carved out the remains of the communist Empire and made huge personal fortunes so they could buy Chelsea and corrupt the world.\u00a0 The connection between football, Moscow and corruption is a story that is not yet over.<\/p>\n

          10 Questions Science Can\u2019t Answer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Hanlon<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          Time, the Universe, dark material, why we remain who we are etc.\u00a0\u00a0 Succinct and thoughtful essays on a variety of meaning of life questions written by a scientist who has a knack for explaining simply the physics of our universe.<\/p>\n

          Up in Honey\u2019s Room\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          Not terribly convincing but it was an ok read.\u00a0 I felt finally that all the characters were straight out of an old movie, from the lovely Honey who drops her clothes at the drop of a hat, to the impossibly fabulous Carl, who comes from wild west fiction.\u00a0\u00a0 At one point Leonard has a go at Zane Grey and I couldn\u2019t tell if he was being ironic, since some of his figures seem to have sprung from there.<\/p>\n

          Set in Nazi hunting US Detroit towards the end of the war, and fairly improbable in plot and d\u00e9nouement, the leading villainess shoots the leading villain.\u00a0 As usual it is Leonard’s command of language and his simple style that keeps us reading, and of course I read it quickly and enjoyed it, but afterwards, like a less than good movie, I went\u2026hang on.<\/p>\n

          No Brow\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Seabrook<\/h2>\n

          The Culture of Marketing.<\/p>\n

          About the perverse effects of the marketing of culture, a job he himself has not done badly.\u00a0\u00a0 Essays about the Americanisation of America, the culture shift from highbrow to no brow as reflected by the subjects and style of the past and current New Yorker, by a New Yorker writer. These changes are represented by the rise and eventual removal of Tina Brown and this book reflects her ten year tenure.\u00a0 Seabrook is though, an intellectual wannabe, a real no brow if you like, and is not a penetrating enough analyst of the condition which he has accurately diagnosed.<\/p>\n

          God is not Great\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Hitchens<\/h2>\n

          God is not great but Hitchens is.\u00a0 The second brilliant book by an ex-pat I have read in a week.\u00a0\u00a0 Magnificently written, eloquently argued, the simple thesis that religion poisons everything<\/em> is clearly and convincingly demonstrated.\u00a0 With many examples from all sides of the aisles, mosque and Kirk.\u00a0 Can mankind survive heavily armed superstition, will ignorance triumph, Hitchens shows us the terrible past and the terrible present and the terrible consequences if we ignore them.<\/p>\n

          My French Whore\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gene Wilder<\/h2>\n

          Signed first edition from Hatchards.\u00a0\u00a0 Although he can undoubtedly write Gene Wilder manages to be both sentimental and clich\u00e9d.\u00a0\u00a0 He is essentially a parodist, but one who seems unable to tell when he is being real and when he is simply parroting something else.\u00a0\u00a0 Without seeing the pretension he thanks his two \u201cmentors\u201d Hemmingway and Jean Renoir.\u00a0 Despite this tip off it would be impossible to miss the old fashioned cinematic style and scenes he chooses to write; the way the characters speak and behave are all conceived in glossy black and white scenes from old films.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s as though Wilder is camp without being quite gay.\u00a0\u00a0 He seems not to have observed the difference between Hemmingway and Hemmingway movies, and it all sounds like a clipped parody of itself, the very same way he acts.<\/p>\n

          Brideshead Revisited\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh<\/h2>\n

          I had put off re-reading this, perhaps aware that my revisiting of Waugh would not allow this to live up to expectations.\u00a0 Afterwards I found out that this was the only book he wrote after the death of his detested father.\u00a0 Perhaps there is something in that.\u00a0 Whatever the reason I found Brideshead disappointing.\u00a0 It is essentially\u00a0 a gay novel.\u00a0 It fails to rise to the levels of comedy of the early books, or sink into the arms of reality of the great War Trilogy, that I find the best of his work.\u00a0 Sebastian is a snob and a sot and a fool, and to fall in love with him seems a lapse of taste, even if he is very pretty in his Rupert Brooke way.\u00a0 I liked only the rough army beginning, which leaps off the page as reality before descending into the gilded, nostalgic world of youth and Oxbridge.\u00a0 I think the society that Waugh observes the most closely is the army.\u00a0\u00a0 The world of Boy Mulcaster and Mayfair madams seem to be a purely Wooster world, only a derivation of Wodehouse, not a real connection to any living reality.\u00a0 For me, only Fitzgerald, in Gatsby<\/em>, captures the pointless banality of drunkenness, its lapses of memory and sudden time shifts and serendipitous happenings. The Sword of Honour<\/em> trilogy remains Waugh\u2019s most honest, moving and truthful writing and the real culmination of his undoubted genius.\u00a0 Brideshead<\/em> \u00a0is heritage writing, awaiting the glossy TV treatment that it was perfect for.<\/p>\n

          The Yiddish Policeman\u2019s Union\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Chabon<\/h2>\n

          I feel as though Chabon has swallowed Joyce.\u00a0 His style I find perversely unreadable.\u00a0 His prose, irritatingly, continually stands in the way of understanding.\u00a0 I am constantly having to go back and re-read sentences.\u00a0 This is disappointing and frustrating as I am interested in his tale of the \u201cdead Yid\u201d on the floor of the Alaskan hotel and the attempts by the local kosher police to investigate this death, but I found myself constantly interrupted by his self-conscious choice of phrase, which acted as a barrier between my mind and the clarity of the scene and the yarn he is trying to spin.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think it is just the continual use of Yiddish expressions, which are frequently hilarious, it is just that he frequently made me wish to stop reading.\u00a0\u00a0 Not a good thing in a novel.\u00a0\u00a0 See Later retraction!<\/strong><\/p>\n

          Silence\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

          Tom Perry sent me his very readable novel, which I found absolutely delightful.\u00a0 His protagonist, the inevitable ex-cop turned private eye, has to hide a woman who seeks to escape death threats.\u00a0\u00a0 Six years later he has to find her and dig her up before this threat reaches her again and bring her in to testify to save her unjustly accused friend from being charged with her murder, while paid assassins pursue her.\u00a0 This simple but effective plot drives the story forward to its finally safe conclusion, leaving the pair of married assassins to escape to Spain, each plotting the death of the other as they go.\u00a0 A nice conclusion to a very nice tale, well written and more enjoyable than the latest Leonard.\u00a0\u00a0 I will seek out and read more of his books.<\/p>\n

          Citizens\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Simon Scharma<\/h2>\n

          Another book which at first I couldn\u2019t wait to put down.\u00a0\u00a0 And I had been savouring the chance to read this for a long time.\u00a0\u00a0 Scharma seems unable to express anything simply.\u00a0 We are clearly to be impressed by his erudition and wide reading.\u00a0 This is history written in the grand essay style, so very little is described, the scenes are all too rarely created for us, only commented on, as if we must know the story so thoroughly already and are only reading for the brilliance of his revisionist thesis, with which I must agree, that history is the result of the actions of great men and not purely the underlying forces of society.\u00a0 In other words the FR was not inevitable but was brought about by a series of interconnecting actions and choices by Louis XVI and his ministers, in particular their financial and military support of the American Revolution, which led to the pigeons homecoming.\u00a0 I did, like the French monarchy, persist, encouraged by the news that the Marseillaise was neither written in, about, nor commenced in Marseille, but created overnight to order on the North East frontier to encourage les autres before battle.\u00a0 It gets better but he is so prolix that his erudition enables him to wander effortlessly off track.\u00a0 I would say it was almost a great book.\u00a0 And he is enlightening in simpler scenes, like the surprisingly attractive Charlotte Corday who assassinated the appalling Marat.\u00a0 He sees the Terror as a means to maintain control of a country falling apart by invasion and insurrection, and observes how it paved the way for Buonapartism.\u00a0 It seems all revolutions invariably lead to despotism, since only the strongest in any murderous situation prevail and they will be either the army (Bonaparte, Idi Amin, Nigeria, the generals of Burma,) or the politically ruthless (Robespierre, Stalin, Hitler, Milosevic, Mugabe of Zimbabwe) or the Church (Ayatollah, Rome, etc).\u00a0 Perhaps because the American Revolution was not so much a revolution, but a liberation of a colony, and therefore had a specific enemy and a goal (i.e. the departure of the British) it escaped this bloodbath and non-democratic end.\u00a0 The Civil war is far more revolutionary.\u00a0 Indeed it is an insurrection and a failed revolution, an attempt to maintain a nostalgically old fashioned state, complete with slavery that was the fuel for its business success, against the modernising influences of the All Men are Equal libertarianism of the original American revolution.<\/p>\n

          The End of Faith\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sam Harris<\/h2>\n

          A brilliant and timely warning against wishy washy liberalism tolerant of the evils of religion, and how this is not reciprocated by any of these religions.\u00a0 Indeed the major danger for the survival of the world are these very religions, in particular Muslimism which seems to threaten the survival of us all.<\/p>\n

          In another book I found that the Library at Alexandria was burned by a Muslim fanatic, since there are only two kinds of book \u2013 the Koran, which they have, and everything else, which is unnecessary.<\/p>\n

          Time to stand up and yell fire in crowded places!<\/p>\n

          The Truth About Muhammad\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Spencer<\/h2>\n

          This theme of dire warning is continued in this book.\u00a0 Although clearly sponsored by the suspect David Horowitz his theme is how little we know of Muslim belief and how little it differs from what we are now pleased to call Islamism \u2013 to differentiate the naughty fanatical version from the good happy official version.\u00a0 He (and others) say there is no difference, the Prophet enjoins his followers to kill all unbelievers, as well as a host of other people in all manner of unpleasant ways.\u00a0\u00a0 A critical life of Muhammad and his enmity and hatred of the Jewish people.\u00a0 One of at least five books on the same subject by the same author who, we are assured, is safely in hiding.\u00a0 Almost certainly I would guess, in Israel.<\/p>\n

          Don\u2019t expect to see The Truth About Moses from the same people.\u00a0 Though their God seems equally petulant and jealous and non-existent.<\/p>\n

          It seems that Muhammad was not only clearly insane but utterly bloodthirsty and ruthless.\u00a0 This type seems to gain control so frequently in human affairs, perhaps because of their homicidal certitude, I suppose we should be grateful Hitler is not a religion.\u00a0 Though fascism, like Stalinism, bears all the hallmarks of a creed.<\/p>\n

          Richelieu and the French Monarchy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 C.V. Wedgewood<\/h2>\n

          Short, dry, but informative history of the brilliant man who survived the court of Louis X111 and paved the way for the French monarchy to expand its power under LIV.<\/p>\n

          Moving On\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Larry Thompson<\/h2>\n

          Events around a rodeo featuring riders, their photographers and lovers and various graduate students in sixties Texas.\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s good, but not as good as I once thought.\u00a0\u00a0 This re-reading of his 1969 book reveals he is in fact a kind of TV writer, which is not to put him down.\u00a0 It is really effortless reading, but doesn\u2019t penetrate to the heart of things.<\/p>\n

          Tiger Patrol\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Sallah and Mitch Weiss<\/h2>\n

          A true story of Men and War.<\/p>\n

          Tales of Unrest\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (including Karain: a Memory)\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Conrad.<\/h2>\n

          Both books deal with the same issue: how to live with the haunting<\/p>\n

          memory of murder.\u00a0 i.e. guilt.\u00a0 Conrad typically mixes his tale with memory of love lost, but then he is a novelist and they are only historians, so he may stick closer to the truth.\u00a0 His is a ghost story \u201cthe homeless ghosts of an unbelieving world\u201d in which the unbelieving white world assuages the haunted neurosis of the Malay world with the talismanic gift of a Jubilee sixpence, bearing the embossed image of Queen Victoria.\u00a0 This is ironically given to Karain, the tortured, haunted, apparently all powerful leader of a small group of villages in the Malay peninsula, by a young seaman to relieve his fear of haunting by an old victim.\u00a0\u00a0 It is Conrad\u2019s ability to draw meaning from the mundane in the most glittering language that brings the shoreline, the sea, the light, to life, as well as the simple delineation of cynical seafarers engaged in the smuggling of arms.\u00a0 The clash of an old Eastern culture with the new white western trading companies. The arrival of adventure capitalism as the liberator from superstition\u2026 Another of the\u00a0 stories is of two white traders delivered (like Conrad himself) into a trading station in the heart of Africa who get broken by the isolation and the terrible mysterious unfathomable things that go on there and end up with murder and suicide as the trading boat, long overdue, finally calls to pick them up out of a white fog.\u00a0 Written with a fine knowledge and hatred of life as an ivory (and unwitting slave) trader and clearly a precursor to Heart of Darkness.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

          A fine discovery of a 1922 first edition in my French shelves.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Tiger Patrol<\/em><\/strong> is also (unwittingly) about guilt.\u00a0\u00a0 None of the men who, driven to extremes by continual fear, drugs and despair, became the inhuman slaughterers of the Song Ve valley, shooting peasants as easily as partridges, could return to normal civilian life or survive for long once they had descended into their own personal hell.\u00a0 Decorating themselves with necklaces of ear hacked from their innocent victims, wasting women and children, dropping grenades into bunkers packed with civilians, the real evil bastards are the General Westmorelands, who promise the easily deceived American public victory in a hopeless cause, while composing policies which involve the removal of all Buddhist farmers to a relocation (concentration) camp behind barbed wire, or else be killed, in order to deny their rice to the NVA.\u00a0\u00a0 Yes they spray their fields with Agent Orange.\u00a0\u00a0 Once in this camp the Buddhist men will be inducted into the corrupt and hopeless South Vietnamese army.\u00a0 What a choice.\u00a0 No wonder so many fled or hid.\u00a0\u00a0 The Tiger Patrol\u2019s task was to clear the area, and this they did, ruthlessly and mercilessly.\u00a0\u00a0 None of them ever escaped the memory of what they did and how they did it.\u00a0 None of them would ever pay in a court of law (the enquiry was inevitably buried by the Pentagon) but they all paid for the rest of their lives reliving the horror and attempting to escape the guilt and memories through drink and drunks.\u00a0 None succeeded.\u00a0 They all died early.\u00a0 Guilt really does operate as a factor in mankind.\u00a0 Though I would hesitate to delineate it as religious, it is certainly ethical.\u00a0 Perhaps there is some moral imperative in DNA, that you may not destroy your own species with impunity, as this would run counter to survival.\u00a0\u00a0 A fine book, well written and researched by two deservedly prize winning journalists.\u00a0\u00a0 How every war is the same, in that it takes the misfits abroad to behave as powerful and sadistic conquerors in someone else\u2019s land from which they must return as rejects to their own country.\u00a0 At least we now know about Post Traumatic shock syndrome.<\/p>\n

          The Congress of Vienna\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Harold Nicholson<\/h2>\n

          A study in Allied Unity\u00a0 1812 – 1822<\/em><\/p>\n

          The comfort of reading great prose (like Conrad) is that the balanced rhythms and finely constructed sentences take you effortlessly onwards.\u00a0 Harold Nicholson, I was surprised to observe, is one of the masters of this.\u00a0 Indeed he may be ranked as one of the finest English prose writers.\u00a0 This study of post Napoleonic Wars Europe, published in 1946, is written, poignantly, in September 1945 with a victorious Europe once again facing the problems of how to maintain alliances with conflicting Allied interests, and avoid the Peace becoming the pretext and cause for the next war.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Enemies of Promise\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cyril Connolly<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          Cyril Connolly is a twat.\u00a0 That\u2019s official.\u00a0 The real enemy of promise is him.\u00a0\u00a0 He screams and yells at hype and contemporary famous authors, but his book is no more than a long Sunday Times article.\u00a0 He is<\/em> The Culture.\u00a0 Envious, needy, greedy for fame, fighting his petty jealousies in the book review columns.\u00a0 The classic wanna be, he wants to write a great book before ten years pass.\u00a0\u00a0 Well sweetie this ain\u2019t it.\u00a0 His argument is fatuous.\u00a0 He attacks 18th<\/sup> century style using examples of Addison and Keats.\u00a0 He is a wanna be academic as well.\u00a0 Oddly most of the examples of what he called overblown and over praised novels, are the very ones which have survived.\u00a0 It was he that was over blown and over rated.\u00a0\u00a0 The only good thing is the book starts in the Var. Now that really was early to be in the Var, and in an oddly typical first line he both illuminates and confuses, which is actually representative of his whole book.<\/p>\n

          Brown\u2019s Requiem\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Elroy<\/h2>\n

          Rather like reading Elmore Leonard, I began some way in to get the feeling that I had read this before.\u00a0 And of course I had.\u00a0 But perhaps that is the point of detective fiction.\u00a0 If you have forgotten the ending you can re-read.\u00a0 The main delight is the plot, what happens next, so providing you don\u2019t know who precisely does what and why to whom till the end then one can easily read it again.\u00a0 This genre is always in first person singular, and the style is very informal and chatty. (Perhaps derived from radio drama?\u00a0 Certainly the intimate voice over is part of film noir).\u00a0 In this book both the protagonist and the antagonist love classical music, both are \u201cfailed\u201d cops and they both shoot each other.\u00a0 This is Chandler style, the ex-cop as Private Eye.\u00a0 This one is a part time repo man who is invited by the anti-Semitic guilty man to investigate his victim (a wealthy Jewish former bookie, now furrier) and his motive (his incestuous love for his sister).\u00a0\u00a0 A novel twist \u2013 never quite explained is that the main suspect \u2013 a lunatic caddie who sleeps on the golf courses of Beverly Hills, starts the trail of investigation against himself.\u00a0 Couple of Chandler themes:\u00a0 incest, pornography, ultimate rejection, in this case by rather than of, the female.\u00a0 He even feels the ghost of Marlowe as he enters a building.\u00a0 Elroy is good, but not wonderful.\u00a0 Readable, but not literature.\u00a0 The detective form is essential deceitful because it is constructed like a gag, it hides the punch line till the end.\u00a0 I liked the hero\u2019s struggle with alcohol while scared shitless in Mexico, and I liked the unsentimental way he uses hookers for unsatisfactory sex after having bedded the heroin.\u00a0 So, while stuck with the limitations of the detective story, Elroy gives glimpses that he is a more honest and truthful writer confined by the limitations of his genre.<\/p>\n

          Empire\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Harris<\/h2>\n

          I find he is typing not writing.\u00a0 His yarns are good enough \u2013 here one would have been sufficient.\u00a0 I Cato is really what he is writing.\u00a0 Roman history as novel.\u00a0 The story of Tiro the slave, but without the genius of Graves.\u00a0 Pot boiler.<\/p>\n

          The Pickwick Papers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles Dickens.<\/h2>\n

          I had trouble with the Pickwick papers, as I did so long ago.\u00a0\u00a0 The problem is that it is so episodic it would be better to receive a few chapters every two weeks, as originally conceived, than to sit down and swallow a whole reading.\u00a0 This is Victorian soap opera and sit com combined.\u00a0\u00a0 There are many fine and funny characters but the book lacks an overall plot, something Dickens would soon learn to correct.\u00a0 Pickwick and his preposterous friends blunder about the country (oh how well he describes their many frozen journeys on top of a coach) in search of interesting things to write about.\u00a0\u00a0 Almost like Dickens himself.\u00a0 In fact the most poorly represented character is the eponymous Pickwick.\u00a0 Somewhat ironically drawn, Dickens keeps us guessing as to whether he really is a fat bumbling hypocrite, or a jovial much-beloved good-natured fellow.\u00a0 He is a cipher available for comic adventure, being sued for breach of promise, being ripped off by Jigger the con artist, engaging Sam Weller (and his good natured unhappily remarried father) to roam the Kent countryside in search of interesting subjects for the papers of the Pickwick club \u2013 a bye election, a shoot, a military parade etc etc.\u00a0 In the end enough is enough, a taste is sufficient.\u00a0 This old copy of mine on very thin paper has deteriorated through many damp winters in the Cabanon, since the signature inside says Eric Idle 1965.\u00a0\u00a0 Clearly an early Cambridge buy.<\/p>\n

          Too Loud a Solitude\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bohumil Hrabal<\/h2>\n

          Written in Czech in 1976 and constantly reprinted this is a little gem of a book, from its arresting and repeated opening line:\u00a0 \u201cFor thirty-five years I\u2019ve been compacting wastepaper, and it\u2019s my love story.\u201d\u00a0 Hanta\u2019s job is compacting used (and banned) books in a cellar, from whence he savours and saves all manner of printed things, art books, and philosophy and masterpieces, collecting certain books for some and treasuring the joy of literature and the beauty of books for himself, hundreds of whom he rescues.\u00a0 But one day he visits the huge new socialist compacting machine where hundreds of young people in yellow uniforms and blue gloves compact hundreds of thousands of books, whole editions, without even glancing at them, or savouring them.\u00a0 A visiting party of schoolchildren rip enthusiastically into them too.\u00a0 He realises he is doomed, his way of life and his respect for books and the written word is done.\u00a0 His Gypsy love long since gone.\u00a0 He climbs into his own old compacter with his favourite book: Seneca\u2019s On Tranquillity of Mind <\/em>and like Seneca he pushes the final button\u2026\u00a0 A carefully and beautifully written metaphor by the author of Closely Observed Trains <\/em>whom Milan Kundera calls \u201cCzechoslovakia\u2019s greatest living author.\u201d<\/p>\n

          Blood Rites\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barbara Ehrenreich<\/h2>\n

          Origins and History of the Passions of War.<\/em><\/p>\n

          I began reading this a couple of years ago and found it here again in Cotignac. \u00a0Her theme is the origin of warfare, which she examines as a development from the hunt and the consequent shortage of animals that resulted from mass killings.\u00a0 She reckons this is due to male and masculine evolution identifying itself with warrior who must prove his manhood through war.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure I entirely buy this feminist explanation.\u00a0 I always favour a DNA version of events.\u00a0 Things are thus because one strand wraps round another going in different directions but together.\u00a0 Opposites only attract. \u00a0Warfare may be one part of DNA invading in order to ensure that opposites meet and do not develop in isolation without benefiting the gene pool.\u00a0 This may be seen as optimism run riot, but failed wars (and what war isn\u2019t?) open the doors to a breaking down of barriers.\u00a0 Post war rape may well be commonplace and the conquerors genes spread into the defeated gene pool but the intermingling of random genes may be the point.\u00a0 If one were to argue that the strongest gene pool won (survived) then it immediately becomes diluted by the eggs of the conquered.\u00a0 This may seem a callous view but DNA has no emotion, beyond survival.\u00a0 That does not mean it appears to have no morality.<\/p>\n

          Barbara Ehrenreich makes some strong telling observations about War and The State, that it is war that leads to the State and vice versa.\u00a0\u00a0 Warfare is necessary to the state both to strengthen it and to keep the citizens in line.\u00a0 But isn\u2019t violence the cutting edge of survival, don\u2019t we self predate precisely so we can go on evolving and not settle happily back in our niche twiddling our Buddhist thumbs while expanding beyond the limitations of our food processing abilities?\u00a0 DNA must go forward or die.\u00a0 We have to survive ourselves.\u00a0\u00a0 Society must evolve beyond the constant petty rivalries of statehood, constantly at the mercy of petty tyrants no matter how they are selected, playing out their own psycho dramas with the lives of others.\u00a0\u00a0 Anyone for the UN passport?<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          My own feeling ( and for a third year I am re-reading the end of this book in Cotignac) is that Killing is What We Do.\u00a0 And perhaps What We Do best.\u00a0 It is the cutting tool of evolution.\u00a0 Survival of the fittest means obliteration of the weak in all niches.\u00a0 There has never been a time when warfare isn\u2019t what we do.\u00a0\u00a0 IN fact Peace is the rarity.\u00a0 It is imnextricably linked with hunting.\u00a0\u00a0 Do we sharpen our hunting skills so we may kill the next tribe or vice versa.\u00a0 Thank God for Football which seems importantly to be vital replacement therapy.\u00a0\u00a0 The Turks can fight the Croats and nobody dies\u2026.<\/p>\n

          Dancing in the Streets\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barbara Ehrtenreich<\/h2>\n

          Well to be honest I read this earlier this year.<\/p>\n

          A History of Collective Joy<\/p>\n

          From Dionysus to dancing in the streets.\u00a0 Carnival.\u00a0 Fascism.\u00a0\u00a0 Soccer.\u00a0 Rock.\u00a0 Tribalism and thereafter.\u00a0 Mass hypnosis, the mass and the masses.<\/p>\n

          Her wide ranging interests and biology background make her always interesting.<\/p>\n

          Diary of a Bad Year\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J.M. Coetzee<\/h2>\n

          This questioning of the State and the power of the state is the initial concern of the new Coetzee, as he puts it \u201cWe are born subject\u201d and we are powerless to do anything about it. Occasionally the state offers us choices between A & B as to who is to rule, but the option for neither is never offered.\u00a0 This is the first of a series of 31 short opinion pieces in the First Diary and a further 24 in the Second which the author is writing for a German publisher.\u00a0 The uniqueness of the book is that the page is divided into three, in the bottom two tranches of which the ageing author lays out a story about himself and the gorgeously bottomed blonde Filipina who he finds in the launderette of their shared Australian apartment block, and whom he persuades to type these pieces, so that he may have some continued contact with her youth and freshness and perfection.\u00a0 He regrets his own lost youth and sexual power while still thinking erotic thoughts of this divine young Aussie, whom he makes no attempt to touch.\u00a0 The young girl\u2019s partner Alan, who does something with money, attempts to persuade Anya first to help him rob Senor C and then humiliate him.\u00a0 But Anya surprises the unpleasant Alan by leaving him after he gets drunk and abuses the old man and then demonstrates her extreme concern that the writer not die alone, expressing the wish to return to hold his hand as he dies, for he has led her out of her servile sexual state (as the trophy girl of a\u00a0 smug, morally ambivalent, yuppie forty year old) into an independency of thought where her own ideas count.\u00a0\u00a0 The uniqueness of the book lies in its ability to be both inside the mind of the writer, with his opinions about Bush and Iraq and the State and Hobbes and Australian politics, while watching the story of the old man who is thinking and writing these things unfurl.\u00a0\u00a0 We experience the duality of existence: the clarity of\u00a0 inside the mind and the mortal and shabby humans who are capable of such illuminating and rational thought.\u00a0\u00a0 A great achievement.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          September<\/h1>\n

          Nightlife\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

          Continuing the Perry-fest.\u00a0 Highly readable, very enjoyable tale of a female serial killer from Portland, who begins to stalk the female detective who is searching for her.<\/p>\n

          Loser Takes All\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

          Bought a 1st<\/sup> Edition for 450 quid in Henley then picked up another for $250 at the Santa Monica Book Fair.\u00a0 It\u2019s a novella.\u00a0 He calls it an entertainment.\u00a0 It\u2019s rather more like a movie.\u00a0 Short moral tale about poor newly weds going to Monaco, where they fall apart because he wins money and becomes rich, then throws it away so he may once again be with her.\u00a0 A fairy tale. Not all that well written.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Nightmare Years 1930-1940\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William L. Shirer<\/h2>\n

          From Kabul to Ur, through Paris in the Daladier riots, but inevitably to Berlin to his great work, chronicling the rise (and ina\u00a0 post script the fall) of the Nazis.\u00a0 More importantly smuggling his crates of diaries out before they could be censored and destroyed.\u00a0 This is what it is to be a diarist recording history (and his thoughts about it) as it happened. \u00a0We are fortunate for his sensible honestly.<\/p>\n

          London\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A.N. Wilson<\/h2>\n

          Short, nicely written popular history of the city.<\/p>\n

          Tactical Exercise\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh<\/h2>\n

          First American Edition of the collected Short stories, included Work Suspended \u2013 which is now counted as a novel.\u00a0\u00a0 Most of these which I re-read are also in the following<\/p>\n

          Decline and Fall\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh<\/h2>\n

          A wonderful book.\u00a0 In Akroyd\u2019s book on Dickens he says Dickens is the premier English comic writer but Waugh must come close.\u00a0\u00a0 Waugh is more cynical, Dickens is bleaker but more sentimental \u2013 his characters are \u201ccharacters\u201d\u00a0 – they know they are characters.\u00a0 Waugh\u2019s characters are closer to ciphers. (Humours)\u00a0\u00a0 His Paul Pennyfeather is only a little less na\u00efve than a Wooster figure but what happens to him:\u00a0 seduced by a school friend\u2019s rich mother (Best-Chetwynde) who sends him off to Marseilles to save her brothel business,\u00a0 arrested on his wedding day, jailed and sentenced to seven years hard labour, while his wife to be runs away becomes Lady Metroland and sends him fine meals in jail, eventually contriving to have him sprung, and fictitiously die, while he escapes to Tuscany,\u00a0 is deeply cynical and critical of an upper notch of society which Waugh feels inferior too and hates beyond belief.\u00a0 I love in this book the way all the characters he meets at the Welsh boarding school, Grimes, (who runs away twice) the Headmaster Dr Fagan and the eventually to be beheaded doubting clergyman (Mr Prendergast), the prig Potts , all recur later in London society and again in the prison.\u00a0\u00a0 These are all recognisable English types.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As Waugh observes prison is easy for anyone who has been at an English boarding school.\u00a0\u00a0 Picked up and dunked by drunken boat club rowdies of the Bollinger Club and expelled from Oxford for immorality for being found in a fountain without trousers, Paul manages to survive and return with a new identity and a moustache.\u00a0 In the same way Waugh survives and becomes the wider maturer Army writer.<\/p>\n

          A marvellous book from a marvellous writer.<\/p>\n

          The Complete Stories of Evelyn Waugh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh<\/h2>\n

          Wonderful treasures<\/p>\n

          The Ballad of the Sad Caf\u00e9\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carson McCullers<\/h2>\n

          An odd tale of an awkward lonely woman, her drunken husband and her unrequited love for a cowardly hunchback.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Strange material indeed for an oddly moving classic.<\/p>\n

          City of Djinns\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Dalrymple<\/h2>\n

          Writer and his wife spend a year in Delhi.\u00a0 His knowledge and love of Delhinese history are the best bits.<\/p>\n

          Dame Edna Everage\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Lahr<\/h2>\n

          I very much enjoyed this book, written in a deceptively simple style by a sympathetic observer, John Lahr, who knows something about comedians, and engagingly and sympathetically watches his man in many circumstances and gets as close as possible to a comedy demon who wants to hide and ridicule mankind.\u00a0 We follow him backstage into the West End and on a triumphal visit to Jersey.\u00a0 The Edna gags are always great and here are many pages of them faithfully recorded, from his eighties re-incarnation (The height of the Thatcher era where Edna appears as virtually a Thatcher doppelganger. )\u00a0 Barry is a quiet, pleasant man with a raging anger who has created demonic characters in which he can rail at the world.\u00a0 His anger is transmuted into humour.\u00a0 Dame Edna says the cruellest things and escapes by charming us.\u00a0 Somehow she cannot really mean it.\u00a0 Interestingly, Humphries conceives of himself as a clown, with the lipstick and face paint and bright colours.\u00a0 Certainly the mask helps him to cut loose, and may explain the menacing quality of this not quite ready for pantomime dame.\u00a0\u00a0 Barry has also always liked the cruel situational non joke, from his earliest Dada days, shocking the public. In difficult situations he likes to disturb everyone around him.\u00a0 He is similar in this respect to John Cleese, with his cruelty and lack of empathy and desire to control the situation. \u201cFaced with hostility, Humphries\u2019 impulse is always to attack and reverse it: controlling rather than being controlled by others.\u201d\u00a0 This, Lahr writes, is \u201ca means of mastering fear by creating it.\u201d He has also, like JC,\u00a0 been known to aggressively kiss men on the mouth in public.\u00a0\u00a0 Again a dominance thing.\u00a0 Lahr quotes Harriet: (a backstage person) \u201cBarry likes to laugh at everybody else, but he can\u2019t stand people laughing at him.\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s so hurt if you laugh at him.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0This is the same defence mechanism at work in John.\u00a0\u00a0 An aggressive pacifism.<\/p>\n

          October – November<\/h1>\n

          No Country for Old Men\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cormac McCarthy<\/h2>\n

          I ran out of books at Denver airport and was happy to reread this in paperback.\u00a0 First of all it is very simply written, like a screenplay, with un-inverted comma\u2019d lines of dialogue and deceptively simple passages of action.\u00a0 But it is a very bleak book. One might call it Bleak Horse<\/strong>. It clearly leads the author directly into the apocalyptic world of The Road.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Here is a writer who has lost all faith in human nature.\u00a0\u00a0 The themes of the book are being old, failure and death, both of the country and of the individuals in the tale.\u00a0\u00a0 The first person narrator Sheriff, looking back on the events the book describes, finds the country has become corrupted by drugs and easy money.\u00a0\u00a0 There is a new breed of casually violent dope dealer around, who kills the innocent as easily as his enemies.<\/p>\n

          Who the hell are these people? He said\u00a0 \u2026I used to say they were the same ones my granddaddy had to deal with\u2026.But I don\u2019t know as that\u2019s true any more.\u00a0\u00a0 I aint sure we\u2019ve seen these people before..<\/em><\/p>\n

          Chigurh the representative of this new evil kind says this just before he kills the innocent wife of Moss – a man he has already killed:<\/p>\n

          Most people don\u2019t believe that there can be such a person.\u00a0 You can see what a problem that must be for them.\u00a0 How to prevail over that which you refuse to acknowledge the existence of.<\/em><\/p>\n

          So this is a profoundly pessimistic book.\u00a0 For the first three quarters it is pretty much a thriller and then McCarthy just jacks it in, and suddenly we casually learn third hand of the death of Moss (the protagonist who steals the drug money he comes across, thereby starting the inevitable pursuit).\u00a0 We are left with the long italicised ramblings of a retiring sheriff who bizarrely confesses to his dad that he did not deserve the medal he won in WW2, he ran when he surrounded abandoning his beleaguered mates.\u00a0\u00a0 What must we make of this bleakness about America?\u00a0 Specifically defined as the result of the Vietnam experience. The new ugly world America has become.\u00a0 But when was it exactly pretty?\u00a0 Surely it was always about guns and theft.\u00a0\u00a0 There is no novelistic outcome, people are shot, some for no reason, some casual victims of lunatics.\u00a0 Chance rules.<\/p>\n

          A very powerful book.<\/p>\n

          Dead Aim\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

          A good detective novel is like a card trick.\u00a0 There is a show, a distraction and then a final surprising revelation.\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry pulls this trick off continually.<\/p>\n

          Frequently his books feature an older man (often an ex cop, but here an ex bail bond man) trying to understand the painful necessity of the world which forces him into violence.<\/p>\n

          Often he uses multiple viewpoints, the switch to an entirely new and unexpected character, which appears at first to be random, but which turns out to be vital to the plot.\u00a0 This keeps his fiction constantly surprising, for nothing is ever just haphazard and nothing is ever simply irrelevant; it is all vital to our understanding of what is going on. And it permits us to discover what is happening for ourselves, rather than being told.\u00a0\u00a0 This means we experience and enjoy the pleasure of discovery, one of the delights of the Mystery form and one in which Thomas is particularly adept.<\/p>\n

          This book commences with a ruthlessly executed execution followed by the callous destruction of an entire family in an apartment who might possibly be witnesses to this hit.\u00a0 Then there is a switch to an older man on a beach who becomes a witness to, and saves a young woman from, an attempted suicide.\u00a0 She persuades him to have sex with her somewhat against his will, and then disappears from his home and is found shortly afterwards as a suicide.\u00a0 The protagonist sets out to find out why \u2013 partly because he feels he has failed her somehow, and partly because his sister committed suicide at college 33 years before and he still feels somehow responsible.\u00a0 He recruits a former colleague, a Bail bond investigator, Lydia,\u00a0 to help him and stumbles across the main theme of the book, which concerns an Eric Prinz type of extreme self defence training school \u2013 controlled by a couple of ex South African mercenaries, which specialises in teaching people to kill for revenge, and eventually for pleasure.\u00a0 As in the hunt.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But the plot brilliance is here where the character of Marcia – a student at this college\u2013 intrudes into the story, which skilfully sets us up for the discovery of the plot.\u00a0 Only now half way through the book do we begin to suspect that this newly intruded storyline is not purely random, but ties in with the puzzling killings at the beginning and propels us forward into the second half of the story, where we watch his friend Lydia hunted and killed.\u00a0 Again a common Thomas theme where the hunter becomes the hunted.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          I also read and enjoyed<\/p>\n

          The Butcher\u2019s Boy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n

          His very first novel.<\/p>\n

          Metzger\u2019s Dog\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry.<\/h2>\n

          A funnier thriller, featuring Leroy \u201cChinese\u201d Gordon and his testy cat, Dr Henry Metzger, who befriends and tames a huge wild canine they steal while\u2026.<\/p>\n

          It\u2019s all good.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Fair Game\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Valerie Plame Wilson<\/h2>\n

          A great story but not a great book.\u00a0 Partly because huge chunks are cut by the CIA, so that what we most want to know is excluded, and partly because this is a rape story told by the victim, and because as she was with the CIA she has learned to minimise the real extent of the hurt and anger and damage done to her.<\/p>\n

          Someone else needs to tell this story when the endless red herrings thrown up by the right, can be side stepped to reveal what an utterly heartless vicious criminal mind Cheney has that he can get away with encouraging treason \u2013 the outing of a professional in his countries secret service in order to revenge himself on her husband – a man who revealed the depth of their shabby lies over WMD.\u00a0 In fact the true scandal is how this country continually puts up with these tyrant nazis who have subjugated their system, where everything is topsy turvey.\u00a0 And still on an interview with Wolf Blitzer he spent time discussing the accusations against her (that she used nepotism to get her husband a job he did for nothing!) compared to the lie that Bush told, how he would remove anyone from the White House involved in the leak, which led inexorably to his pardoning the patsy Libby.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Dickens\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter Ackroyd<\/h2>\n

          In many cases an author\u2019s books describe and reflect his own life.\u00a0 In the finest novelists we feel their own presence in the book so that the story teller is as much a character as the people in the fiction.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is true of Austen, Conrad, early Mailer, Lawrence \u2026 perhaps everyone.-<\/p>\n

          It is most true of Dickens.<\/p>\n

          The life of Dickens is a novel.\u00a0 And this is a very fine biography bringing a novelists understanding to both the man and his work.\u00a0 It is the force of his character that stamps itself on the narrative so that he eventually becomes the finest exponent of his own work, reading it aloud publicly and virtually becoming his own work.\u00a0\u00a0 The pressure and stress of doing this eventually kills him, but even though he knew the dangers of this to his health he could not stop.\u00a0 He had become his own celebrity.\u00a0\u00a0 This is his greatness, that he is both the man and his work and his own performer.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Reality Show\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Howard Kurtz<\/h2>\n

          T.S. Eliot says in Murder in the Cathedral \u201cMankind cannot bear too much reality.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 I certainly can\u2019t bear too many reality shows.\u00a0\u00a0 And I couldn\u2019t bear too much of this book.\u00a0 It is about the reality of the network news shows which is of course really about realty \u2013 the real estate of television, with its millions of addicts.\u00a0 To truly understand what is going on on American TV, and the way the truth is handled and blunted and changed needs someone with far more cynicism and cruelty than this author.\u00a0 Never before has an Ostrich mentality so imposed itself on a society.\u00a0\u00a0 Do we really care about Katie Kuric.\u00a0 Is it really that important which painted face reads the heavily slanted news to the American public?\u00a0 Is any form of news that sells advertising, ever to be trusted?\u00a0\u00a0 Of course not.<\/p>\n

          I read as much as I could stand about these powerful though dull people and the only redeeming feature was the odd fact that John Stewart\u2019s parody news show seems to be the most accurate.\u00a0 That of course has now been silenced by the writers strike, as has the only other serious comment about American leaders in the jokes of Leno, and Letterman.\u00a0 A brilliantly cynical manner to squash public criticism in the wind up to an election.\u00a0\u00a0 Though only a cynic, or comedian, might suggest that might be one of the intentions\u2026<\/p>\n

          Speedboat\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Renata Adler<\/h2>\n

          This first novel did not seem to me to live up to the acclaim it received when it was first published.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps he beauty and intelligence fooled everybody\u2026<\/p>\n

          The Curtain\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Milan Kundera.<\/h2>\n

          An Essay in seven parts, none of which I can for the moment recall..<\/p>\n

          Hotel de Dream\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edmund White<\/h2>\n

          Edmund White writes of the last chapter in the life of Steven Crane (The Red Badge of Courage) as he is dying broke in England, and then France,\u00a0 but improbably has him dictating a gay novel about a married banker in New York who falls for a young boy prostitute Elliot, thereby ruining his life, his wife, his job and his bank balance.\u00a0\u00a0 Is this wish fulfilment?\u00a0\u00a0 White claiming Crane for his team?\u00a0\u00a0 He writes beautifully and the tale was fine enough but is it true, or is it merely fantasy?<\/p>\n

          Conrad and Lady Black\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Bower<\/h2>\n

          Tabloid biography at its finest and I\u2019m not ashamed to say I was fascinated to read the downfall of this arrogant man and his rather greedy wife.<\/p>\n

          Paris\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Secret History\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Andrew Hussey<\/h2>\n

          A wonderful book.\u00a0 A comprehensive history of this frequently violent city.\u00a0 How frequent is the amazing part of the story.\u00a0 Incorporating art and society and not at all just a tale of Kings and Queens.\u00a0 Thoughtful and intelligent, he charts the change and development and evolution of this organism.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Late Hector Kipling\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Thewlis<\/h2>\n

          This isn\u2019t just a good novel, a comic novel, an English novel, a very well written novel:\u00a0 it\u2019s a Northern <\/em>novel, and not just Northern it\u2019s a Lancashire novel.\u00a0 Lancashire has the most delicate, delicious form of understated humour,\u00a0 (Rob Wilton) much subtler and funnier than the rather more obviously funny<\/em> Yorkshire humour.<\/p>\n

          This line captures it for me, as the hero, crawls past a traffic accident involving a dead florist.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s a man who\u2019s sold his last flower\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

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          November \u2013 December<\/h1>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Sex\u00a0 With Kings\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eleanor Herman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (E-Books)<\/h2>\n

          A great pot boiler.\u00a0\u00a0 History as gossip and twice as interesting.<\/p>\n

          A Christmas Carol\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles Dickens\u00a0\u00a0 (E-Book)<\/h2>\n

          A gem.\u00a0 Still and forever.<\/p>\n

          A Tale of Two Cities\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles Dickens\u00a0\u00a0 (E-Book)<\/h2>\n

          Not as great as I remembered, but still with some fairly awesome creations \u2013 the knitting women and their implacable hatred.<\/p>\n

          Death Benefits\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry\u00a0\u00a0 (E-Book)<\/h2>\n

          The one about insurance scams \u2013 and a whole town involved.\u00a0 Rather less believable than most and the first one of his I have read that didn\u2019t entirely satisfy me.<\/p>\n

          Pursuit\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (E-Book)<\/h2>\n

          Though this one was very good and very gripping.\u00a0 Thirteen bodies are discovered in a small Louisville restaurant just after closing time.\u00a0 The local Police call in a retired cop now a criminology professor \u2013 relentless pursuit of a cold blooded killer by an ex-cop..<\/p>\n

          Elmore Leonard\u2019s Ten Things Elmore Leonard\u00a0 (E-Book)<\/h2>\n

          Well you can\u2019t blame a guy if the publishers want to.\u00a0 Nicely illustrated.<\/p>\n

          The Tipping Point\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Malcolm Gladwell\u00a0\u00a0 E-Book<\/h2>\n

          Excerpt only.<\/p>\n

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          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2006<\/h3>\n

          Ctrl-Alt- 1-2-3<\/h3>\n

          November \u2013 December<\/h1>\n

          Madame de Stael\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maria Fairweather<\/h2>\n

          The daughter of the Swiss banker Necker who almost prevented the French revolution, this extraordinary intellectual swam through the murky waters of the Revolution and managed to survive even the implacable hatred of Napoleon: she would call a spade a tyrant.\u00a0\u00a0 Friend to many (Talleyrand etc) and a novelist and essayist and historian, this is a fascinating tale of the woman who crops up everywhere.<\/p>\n

          Great tales from English History\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Lacey.<\/h2>\n

          Just what it says \u2013 a quick nice gossipy history of tales from Chaucer through to Isaac Newton.\u00a0\u00a0 No particular axe to grind, but several heads to sever.<\/p>\n

          Pharos and Pharillon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E.M. Forster<\/h2>\n

          1923, travellers tales of Alexandria, through history and then contemporary Egypt.<\/p>\n

          The Americanization of Emily \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Bradford Huie<\/h2>\n

          A lovely highly readable novel of English gels at war and the American invasion of Britain.\u00a0\u00a0 Including the Normandy invasion.\u00a0\u00a0 A really enjoyable book.<\/p>\n

          Intimacy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hanif Kureishi<\/h2>\n

          A man leaves his not very nice unloved wife, planning to sneak away to his friends flat only to discover at the end that he is really gay\u2026unless I misread it???<\/p>\n

          The Road \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cormac McCarthy<\/h2>\n

          Bleak.\u00a0 Simply bleak.\u00a0\u00a0 But elegant as hell.<\/p>\n

          Firmin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sam Savage<\/h2>\n

          A rat who lives in a bookshop.<\/p>\n

          Ancient Rome\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Simon Baker<\/h2>\n

          A TV type scamper through the highlights.\u00a0 Not very well written.<\/p>\n

          Through the Children\u2019s Gate\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Adam Gopnik<\/h2>\n

          Leaving Paris returning to New York in time for 9\/11 and the five subsequent years bringing up the kids.\u00a0\u00a0 That interesting.\u00a0\u00a0 Or not.<\/p>\n

          The Aeneid\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Virgil\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Translated by Robert Fagles<\/h2>\n

          A brilliant translation.\u00a0 Highly readable and very entertaining and about time I read it.<\/p>\n

          Chrysanthemum Palace\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bruce Wagner<\/h2>\n

          Despite being named by name in this book I had trouble getting through Bruce\u2019s latest.\u00a0 It\u2019s because the new trendy five-stream story novel is very confusing to read, five simultaneous stories means that if you pick the book down in the middle for a moment or two you haven\u2019t a hope in hell of remembering who anyone is.\u00a0\u00a0 Some of the stories I found moving and affecting and would have preferred them to play out in their own time, so I was overall disappointed and need to return to this work and try again because I so love Bruce and he is so great.<\/p>\n

          A Perfect Spy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carr\u00e9<\/h2>\n

          Well I had misgivings and I must say I soon found out that he has by this stage of his career become prolix and distended and otiose and his sentences are long and his rhythms are clumsy and he is altogether unreadable.\u00a0 And he started out so spare and tense and every word counted.\u00a0 He must have started to believe his own reviews and the thriller writer thought of himself as a literary figure.\u00a0\u00a0 A pity.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0Ghost written\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mitchell<\/h2>\n

          Nine characters linked, a terrorist cult member in Okinawa, a record shop clerk in Tokyo, a money laundering British financier in Hong Kong, an old Buddhist woman running a tea shack in China, an entity, an art thief in St Petersburg, a drummer in London, a female physicist hiding from the CIA in Ireland and a late night DJ in New York hurtle towards a shared destiny.\u00a0 Awesome. One of the greatest and most interesting contemporary novelists.<\/p>\n

          What is the What\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dave Eggers<\/h2>\n

          Normally I like his stuff and he sent me a bound proof as well as a hard back, but I can\u2019t get into the African story thing.\u00a0 It is me.\u00a0 I will try again and I do feel bad because he is a great guy and a wonderful writer.<\/p>\n

          Number 9 Dream\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mitchell<\/h2>\n

          Set in Japan, this story of a young man searching for his father in Tokyo and his terrifying involvement with the Yakuza underworld is everything that his first novel promises us.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What a writer of prose he is.\u00a0\u00a0 Certainly the best young novelist currently at work.\u00a0 There is only one strand I found difficult, which was some kind of story within a story and I frankly skipped it without losing anything from the novel \u2013 and a good editor would have removed it altogether.\u00a0\u00a0 Gripping and moving, including the moving story of his grandfather as a Japanese human torpedo, altogether pastoral, historical, tragical.<\/p>\n

          Cloud Atlas\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mitchell<\/h2>\n

          A nest of dolls or Chinese boxes.\u00a0 Of many stories, and many narrators inter-related and inter-connected.\u00a0 Of different styles, and eras and\u00a0 Dazzlingly brilliant.\u00a0 Almost impossible to summarise.\u00a0 He is pure genius.<\/p>\n

          Protobiography\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd<\/h2>\n

          Short Penguin 70.<\/p>\n

          June 1941\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Lukacs<\/h2>\n

          The proof that history is made by individuals.\u00a0\u00a0 Without these two, World War Two would never have been so successful.\u00a0\u00a0 Amazing to watch the aggressive paranoia of Hitler turning to stab his ally in the back to begin his own downfall.\u00a0 Did ever two monsters more deserve each other?\u00a0 I loved the way Stalin could not believe it and took to his bed for days so Molotov took over till he recovered.\u00a0\u00a0 How nuts they were.\u00a0 It\u2019s beyond time psychological testing was used to satisfy an electorate of the mental health (and types) of candidates.\u00a0\u00a0 Would Bush have even passed?\u00a0\u00a0 But mankind needs defenses against the duplicity and cleverness of the insane.\u00a0 Especially when they come disguised as religions.\u00a0\u00a0 I suggest an Independent Office of Psychological Counselling which advises the electorate.<\/p>\n

          Scott-King\u2019s Modern Europe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh<\/h2>\n

          A failed novel.\u00a0\u00a0 Starts off well, and fails.\u00a0\u00a0 He is smart enough to notice and abandon the book.\u00a0\u00a0 this I have a nice first edition. (illustrated by the author)<\/p>\n

          The Complete Stories of Evelyn Waugh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh<\/h2>\n

          What a joy he is.\u00a0 Many gems in here.\u00a0 Early days of Apthorpe.\u00a0 Troubles with women.\u00a0 An endless treasure trove of bits and pieces for dipping into and re-reading this master of 20th<\/sup> Century prose fiction.<\/p>\n

          Walking Zero\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chet Raymo<\/h2>\n

          A history of time and the cosmos along the Prime Meridian.<\/p>\n

          The Collected Stories\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Amy Hempel<\/h2>\n

          Very fine.<\/p>\n

          September- October<\/h1>\n

          Fascination\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd<\/h2>\n

          Stories now in paperback.<\/p>\n

          Restless \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd<\/h2>\n

          I couldn\u2019t get into at all.\u00a0 Really disappointing spy tale and without any of the stamp of truth.\u00a0 In truth this fall there are a whole series of novels I couldn\u2019t pick up.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All disappointing.<\/p>\n

          Kalooki Nights\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Howard Jacobson<\/h2>\n

          The usually reliable Howard Jacobson left me wanting less.<\/p>\n

          House of Meetings\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/h2>\n

          And Martin Amis, well, I was done before I sat down.\u00a0\u00a0 What is it with this current spate of English writers?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Is it the Booker?\u00a0\u00a0 Are they all trying to win prizes instead of writing novels?\u00a0\u00a0 Or are they all turning failed film scripts into novels?\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0But I still persisted!\u00a0\u00a0 Sent by Mike Nichols initially.<\/p>\n

          Tales from the Tower\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel Diehl & Mark P. Donnelly<\/h2>\n

          It was a relief to turn to this light work of history of fascinating tales from the Tower.\u00a0 Fun to read of the sack of the Savoy in the Peasants revolt while actually in bed in the Savoy.\u00a0\u00a0 Many excellent tales.<\/p>\n

          The Confident Hope of a Miracle\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Neil Hanson<\/h2>\n

          A history of the Spanish Armada which tells the tale of yet another leader launching a military expectation trusting to God and the future.\u00a0\u00a0 Neither of which turn out to be reliable. If only Bush could read he would learn so much about history\u2019s assholes before him, where the wished for event replaces the possibility of failure.\u00a0 The Armada proceeded in optimism, relying on God, where a sensible plan, and a better idea might have saved it from it\u2019s fate.\u00a0\u00a0 But is God blamed and punished?\u00a0\u00a0 No he gets off scot free\u2026and on to inspire the next lunatic who thinks he is talking to someone.<\/p>\n

          The Rings of Saturn\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 W.G. Sebald<\/h2>\n

          Are they novels, biography, memoirs or philosophical essays?\u00a0 The books of Sebald encompass all four at once.\u00a0 The narrator is on a walking tour of the east coast and the following subjects cross his mind:\u00a0\u00a0 Sir Thomas Browne\u2019s skull, a matchstick model of the temple of Jerusalem, Conrad, Rembrandt\u2019s Anatomy Lesson, the massive bombings of WW11 the dowager Empress Tzu Hsui and the Norwich silk industry\u2026!\u00a0 What makes Sebald so interesting is this is how we think.<\/p>\n

          One or two Orphans as usual at this time of year.<\/h3>\n

          The Big Empty\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Norman Mailer<\/h2>\n

          Dialogues and essays on Sex, God, Boxing Morality etc etc<\/p>\n

          Not One More Death\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brian Eno, Le Carre, Pinter<\/h2>\n

          Highly political polemics against the Iraq war.\u00a0 Angry and outspoken and by God sadly needed.<\/p>\n

          The Death of Kings\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Clifford Brewer<\/h2>\n

          Morbidly fascinating tale of the death of every King & Queen of England, which reminds you that death ain\u2019t pleasant, welcome or always kind\u2026.but that amongst the royals, syphilis is king.<\/p>\n

          The Wah-Wah Diaries\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard E. Grant<\/h2>\n

          The making of a film.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fab film, fab diary.\u00a0 Should be taught in film school, about the evils and horrors of raising the money for independent films and holding the pieces together in time and long enough to make a movie.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes fortune seems to favour those who didn\u2019t!<\/p>\n

          The Case for Impeachment\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Lindorff & Barbara Olshansky<\/h2>\n

          As always a book written by two is less than more.\u00a0 But of course this is about the evil Bush.\u00a0 May his soul rot in hell.<\/p>\n

          Campo Santo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 W. G. Sebald<\/h2>\n

          The last book by Sebald doesn\u2019t disappoint.\u00a0\u00a0 Not really a book but a series of unfinished pieces.\u00a0\u00a0 The main unfinished part of the book is memories of Corsica, but the best piece Between History and Natural History On the literary description of total destruction <\/em>\u00a0discusses the lacuna in German literature immediately after the war, where the Germans are so shell shocked and guilty that they do not write about their sufferings after the tremendous damage wrought on them.\u00a0 They were bombed back to the stone age living in the rubble, but could not describe these sufferings adequately because of the monstrous revelations that they were learning about themselves and what they had done to the Jews.\u00a0 He makes a fine distinction between passive resistance and passive acceptance, which we would all do well to ponder in these Bush days.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          By far my favourite reading this fall has been stumbling on some first edition Waugh\u2019s and delightedly re-read Officers and Gentlemen his great trilogy.<\/p>\n

          Men at Arms\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh\u00a0\u00a0 (first edition)\u00a0 1952<\/h2>\n

          Officers and Gentlemen\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh\u00a0\u00a0 (first edition)\u00a0 1955<\/h2>\n

          Published 1952 this delightfully honest story about being caught up in World War two and the chaos of the army has great characters\u00a0 (the hilarious Apthorpe and his thunder box, the one eyed General) and reeks of reality.\u00a0 But his mature writing style is so good I think him now better than Greene.\u00a0\u00a0 Even his theme, of the natural gentleman of England, is bitterly ironic, since the gentleman he so admires, Ivor Blair, with his oriental garb and Pekingese, is the first to desert his men at Crete, and turns up safely to be saved from the consequences of his cowardice by the appalling society hostess Mrs Stritch.\u00a0\u00a0 Apthorpe too with his pretence at superiority is exposed as a lying fool.\u00a0\u00a0 Guy Crouchback blunders his way through the war, and the bleak boredom of army life, interspersed with moments of terrifying horror, and terrifying humour, has never been so realistically captured.\u00a0\u00a0 To me it\u2019s Waugh and Peace.<\/p>\n

          Unconditional Surrender\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (first edition 1961)<\/h2>\n

          A third volume a few years later.\u00a0 More wistful, and unexpected, the sudden death of his philandering wife Virginia, after Guy takes her back, and the completely unexpected happy end.\u00a0 The death of the one eyed Brigadier.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a totally satisfactory ending to such a great trilogy.\u00a0 Perhaps he left it too late, too long.\u00a0 But the glitter of the writing leaves me almost completely happy.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          And what can one say about<\/p>\n

          The Python Years \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Palin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Diaries.<\/h2>\n

          Except the give away inversion of the title and the extraordinary timing of the publication, to co-incide with the opening of Spamalot, reveals the rather dull narcissist underneath the niceness.\u00a0\u00a0 We learn almost nothing of the feelings and emotions of the real Palin,\u00a0\u00a0 perhaps he has none.\u00a0\u00a0 Is this the Oxford way like Alan Bennet constantly backing shyly into the limelight with another enormous volume about themselves.\u00a0\u00a0 I am singled out for character abuse, though it is like being savaged by a smiley face, since most of the abuse and contempt he feels for me is thirty years old.\u00a0\u00a0 His more recent comments in the Sunday Telegraph left me feeling hurt and betrayed and of course I had to fight the impulse to strike back \u201cThis book is very hard to put down: but well worth the effort\u201d being one good one liner I have had to bite my tongue not to use.\u00a0\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t easy having the Telegraph serialise this and having headlines about my selfish self hanging on my door in the morning but I learned to take the paper without looking and fling it down the hall and after a moan to Terry J about feeling hurt, and a call to my shrink, I took an executive decision to rise above it, and talk to Michael privately later about what felt like a betrayal.\u00a0\u00a0 He offered me lunch and I didn\u2019t want to see him.\u00a0\u00a0 Since he accuses me of only liking famous people perhaps he no longer qualifies as a friend\u2026.Pity.\u00a0 Nice bloke, I hear. But God if this is the highlight of his diaries and there are another fifteen volumes.\u00a0\u00a0 Nothing like a narcissist to save you on Horlicks.<\/p>\n

          Jane Austen\u00a0 A life\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 Carol Shields<\/h2>\n

          Just that,\u00a0\u00a0 but quite interesting.<\/p>\n

          Bizarre Books\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Russell Ash Brian Lake<\/h2>\n

          Just that.\u00a0\u00a0 Hilarious titles, like I was Hitler\u2019s Maid<\/em> and Fish who Answer the telephone.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0 All apparently real books.<\/p>\n

          Portraits in Miniature\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Essays\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lytton Strachey<\/h2>\n

          A nice find. \u00a0First edition signed by \u201cThe Author\u201d from 1931.<\/p>\n

          Among the Cities\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jan Morris<\/h2>\n

          The prolific wanderer with some elegant tales of cities.\u00a0 Bath, LA etc<\/p>\n

          The Deserter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter Bourne<\/h2>\n

          A gift from Carey, the first novel of his friend Matthew\u2019s dad.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t expect a lot and it seemed ok but I didn\u2019t stick with it.\u00a0\u00a0 Needed a good editor and in this season of disappointment for novels it came as no surprise.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          July-August<\/h1>\n

          Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carre<\/h2>\n

          Really a detective story.\u00a0 His strength lies in his characters.\u00a0\u00a0 The absurd Smiley and of course the leathery old schoolmaster spy teacher Jim Prideaux\u00a0 a sort of modern Buchan character, decent shy and violent when necessary.\u00a0 Like a detective story he only lets us know what he wants when he wants so we have no real insight and it is largely surface.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Vertigo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 W.G. Sebald<\/h2>\n

          Sometimes great, sometimes banal.\u00a0 Great sketches of historical figures as in Lytton Strachey.\u00a0 He seems unable to distinguish between the particular and the prosaic.\u00a0 Highs and dulls.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Honourable Schoolboy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carre<\/h2>\n

          I thought I would give him a re read to see if he stood the test of time, and actually he doesn\u2019t. This one I could hardly wait to stop reading.\u00a0 Occasionally interesting but more frequently tedious as if cranked out for a greedy publisher on a roll.\u00a0 I think the early books a good deal better.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Farewell the Trumpets\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jan Morris<\/h2>\n

          Part Three:\u00a0 An Imperial Retreat.<\/p>\n

          The magnificent conclusion to the extraordinary trilogy.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is a great achievement and fun to read the decline and fall of an empire which is so filled with amazing people and stories.\u00a0\u00a0 All empires resemble each other.\u00a0 That\u2019s what we do, build empires.\u00a0\u00a0 We can no more avoid it than ants.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Colossus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Niall Ferguson<\/h2>\n

          As an ironic counterpart to the above this is the American empire which is not only in denial but seems to be about to collapse before forming.\u00a0\u00a0 The fault of his book is the same as some teachers \u2013 they cannot resist telling you what the book is about, then how they will describe what it is about and then etc etc.,\u00a0\u00a0 get on with it!<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Coronation Everest\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jan Morris<\/h2>\n

          Binge reading Jan Morris.\u00a0 This tells the story of my involvement with Everest, and Empire.\u00a0 The ten year old at breakfast at boarding school and the radio announcing Everest had been conquered.\u00a0 Perhaps bigger than the World Cup!\u00a0\u00a0 I had no idea it was Jan then James who brought the good news, and even laboured half way up the mountain with Hunt and co.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Captain and the Enemy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

          The one where the con man kidnaps the willing boy from unhappy boarding school as a companion for his girl Kath, then is absent being largely villainous.\u00a0\u00a0 Boy grown up goes to South America and largely fails to tell the Captain that his girl is dead, then he does, then he dies and then he dies.<\/p>\n

          It\u2019s two books, second part much stronger if more familiar Greene overseas, but still not a masterpiece.\u00a0\u00a0 Found a nice First Edition.<\/p>\n

          Tales from the Tower of London\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel Diehl and Mark Donnelly<\/h2>\n

          Very easy fine potted historical scenarios of the long and extraordinary history of the tower, of blood, of rebellion, of escapes, of theft, I mean this is television at its finest.\u00a0\u00a0 Bought it for Lil but devoured it myself.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          May – June<\/h1>\n

          The Happy Island\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dawn Powell<\/h2>\n

          Really the mistress of irony.\u00a0 This 1938 dissection of the mad occupants of the island of Manhattan and its values is superb.\u00a0\u00a0 A stunning and wickedly witty expose of the gay, the glittering, the glitterati and the simply rich.\u00a0 Try these:<\/p>\n

          \u201cit seemed to him the sky\u2026was very pretty, with the hickory trees and the distant mills against; if carefully done would make an unusually bad oil painting.\u201d<\/p>\n

          \u201cOne was drunk\u2026because of intolerable boredom or because one\u2019s play was a flop or success, one\u2019s lover was lost or regained, one had won or dropped a fortune \u2013 any one of these was legitimate excuse for excess; but to be drunk\u2026merely out of poverty was more than decent people could bear\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

          \u201cAs usual at these affairs Dol sat in the big yellow wing chair by the fire, smiling fixedly and ignoring his guests,\u00a0 But today of all days his smile was too fixed, his stupefaction so obvious that Neal and jean came over to nudge him into consciousness and found that he had not passed out as they had unfairly suspected, the man was merely dead,\u201d<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \u201cIt was bad enough to have Dol die\u2026.but to have him drop dead right in the middle of a party \u2013 even though it was his own, and he had a perfect right \u2013 and make so many people feel uncomfortable was so unlike him, so gauche, so lacking in taste as to be almost unforgivable.<\/p>\n

          Laurel Canyon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Walker<\/h2>\n

          A fascinating story of the occupants of this Wonderland Canyon from the sixties to the present day.\u00a0 A well told highly readable tale of two titties.<\/p>\n

          Sock\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penn Jillette<\/h2>\n

          Nicely written enough with all his energy and drive, but I hadn\u2019t a clue what it was about and ducked early.<\/p>\n

          The Emigrants\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 W.G. Sebald<\/h2>\n

          Finely written and elegantly constructed with the eerie use of real photographs but I got a little tired of it.<\/p>\n

          Bush On The Couch\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Justin A. Frank<\/h2>\n

          So there is<\/em> plenty to worry about!\u00a0\u00a0 At least it helps to see what creates a monster.\u00a0 O Poor America that it should be in such dangerous hands.\u00a0 A man who failed at everything, now fails at the most important job in the world.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What did they expect?<\/p>\n

          Our Man in Havana\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

          The vacuum cleaner salesman who is recruited by British Intelligence to be a spy in Havana and creates the characters of spies and chaos, but is allowed to walk away with the girl and the proceeds.\u00a0\u00a0 Very funny and masterful Greene.<\/p>\n

          The Shipwrecked\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

          I\u2019m having a Greene season.<\/p>\n

          May We Borrow Your Husband\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

          Wickedly bitchy Greene at his best<\/p>\n

          Travels With My Aunt\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

          The finest non Gay Queen we ever had.<\/p>\n

          Rough Crossings\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Simon Schama<\/h2>\n

          Scary and beautifully written story of slavery in the New World and how when the Americans were forming to rid themselves of slavery they didn\u2019t mean actual slaves but only freedom from the British who were seeking to restrict and ultimately ban slavery.\u00a0 An odd different view of history where the Brits guaranteed the freedom of slaves in the war of independence.\u00a0\u00a0 Then continues with the story of Sierra Leone which was less fascinating.<\/p>\n

          Black Green\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Down\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mitchell<\/h2>\n

          A wonderful novel, a year in the life of a young boy in 1982 Worcestershire.\u00a0\u00a0 Amazingly written.\u00a0\u00a0 And best novel of the year.<\/p>\n

          Inventing a Nation\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gore Vidal<\/h2>\n

          Founding fathers and their foibles in the birthing process of a Nation.<\/p>\n

          The Pharmacist\u2019s Mate\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Amy Fusselman<\/h2>\n

          Short and sweet<\/p>\n

          Shalimar The Clown\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Salman Rushdie<\/h2>\n

          I really loved this latest Salman, which tracks the story of a Killer of Max Ophuls and his daughters revenge. It isn\u2019t so much the story of a terrorist as a Revenger\u2019s Tale.\u00a0\u00a0 Good to see Salman writing so well when most of his contemporaries are just making pot boilers.<\/p>\n

          Hand To Mouth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Auster<\/h2>\n

          Memoir of a young writer.<\/p>\n

          Everyman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

          Thank You Jeeves\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 P.G. Wodehouse<\/h2>\n

          The usual rot with yachts and fathers and Wooster in love with inappropriate American gels.<\/p>\n

          Tell Me How Long The Train\u2019s Been Gone James Baldwin<\/h2>\n

          Story of a black American actor.<\/p>\n

          The March\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E .L. Doctorow<\/h2>\n

          I loved this civil war story set around Sherman\u2019s march through the South pillaging and burning.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          March \u2013 April<\/h1>\n

          The Big Laugh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John O\u2019Hara<\/h2>\n

          I very much enjoyed this novel about a soul-less scoundrel who becomes a star and even a better person through fame.\u00a0 His dialogue is terrific, and the psychology of sex seems both modern and accurate.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Surprisingly good.<\/p>\n

          The Geographer\u2019s Library\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Fasman<\/h2>\n

          A Best Seller, and ok but I gave up under the weight of it\u2019s pretensions.\u00a0 Perhaps it\u2019ll make a nice film.<\/p>\n

          Napoleon in Russia\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alan Palmer<\/h2>\n

          A fabulous telling of the invasion of Russia.\u00a0 The pride and fall of Napoleon faced with the hubris and trapped in his own world view.\u00a0 Highly readable and the exquisite torture of the Grand Army in the harshest of all environments.<\/p>\n

          The Possibility of an Island\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michel Houellebecq<\/h2>\n

          Almost unreadable.\u00a0\u00a0 Certainly incomprehensible.\u00a0 Fragments from the future?\u00a0 I dunno.\u00a0 The danger even good novelists fall into when indulging in science fiction.<\/p>\n

          Catherine de Medici\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Leonie Frieda<\/h2>\n

          All here, the young Medici girl who married a King Henri 11 only to be widowed at a joust and then to fight like a tigress to keep France from collapsing.\u00a0\u00a0 She held apart the warring factions with consummate skill though the bloodletting of the Reformation was impossible to prevent and collapsed into the murderous Massacre of St Bartholomew which oddly, in the end, led to the ascendance of a Huguenot King Henri 1V at the expense of a mass.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And yes, Paris probably is worth it\u2026.\u00a0\u00a0 Fine history.<\/p>\n

          The Comedians\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

          A wonderful novel.\u00a0\u00a0 Set in the chaotic world of Papa Doc\u2019s \u2013 the writing and the images \u2013 the dead man in the empty swimming pool \u2013 the sense of inevitable defeat against the implacable Ton Tons.\u00a0 This is a fine novel even by his standards.<\/p>\n

          Her Majesty\u2019s Spymaster\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Budiansky<\/h2>\n

          Very much enjoyed this history of Elizabeth\u2019s man Sir Francis Walsingham, who defended and protected her in the turmoils of the Reformation against the machinations of her step Brother-in Law Philip 11.<\/p>\n

          A Short History of Myth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Karen Armstrong.<\/h2>\n

          Probably not short enough for me since I can remember nothing\u2026.<\/p>\n

          Slowing Down\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 George Melly<\/h2>\n

          The discomforts and embarrassments of aging are so unpleasant and unwelcome that even in George Melly\u2019s ironic and humorous hands I could not continue.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps it\u2019s a bit too close\u2026.<\/p>\n

          State of Fear\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Crichton<\/h2>\n

          I see I got well passed the half way mark before chucking this so called thriller.\u00a0 He seems to argue against Global Warming which seems eccentric at the least.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps he\u2019s a Bush pal\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 I used to think he wrote better than this, but now he is down there with Grisham for me in the Unreadable Best Seller Category\u2026<\/p>\n

          1599\u00a0\u00a0 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare.\u00a0 James Shapiro<\/h2>\n

          Even though I couldn\u2019t wait for the year to end, this book is still crammed with interesting and valuable insights.\u00a0 The scenes of them moving the Theatre across the river in winter in themselves are worth the admission, plus the many connections between the Essex rebellion and Julius Caesar The writing of As You Like It, and then the creation of the breakthrough play Hamlet, where soliloquy led him into a whole new existentialist essayist way of writing plays.\u00a0 A good fine book.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          January thru February<\/h1>\n

          Austerlitz\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 W. G. Sebald.<\/h2>\n

          I loved this part memoir part novel of early childhood in Wales. Where the child finally discovers his holocaust story background, transported out of Austria.\u00a0 The tale of a survivor.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History\u00a0 Frederick Merk<\/h2>\n

          So American foreign policy has always been driven by lies and greed.\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t know whether this is refreshing or depressing to learn.\u00a0 Best not to be Mexico or Iraq at times like this to stand in the way of the megalith armed with the bible and the knowledge that God wants you to do what you have just decided you will do.<\/p>\n

          1453\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Roger Crowley<\/h2>\n

          The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West.\u00a0 A very topical reminder that history is always relevant and that those who do not read it or understand it are\u2026well everywhere.\u00a0\u00a0 Particularly in government.\u00a0\u00a0 I myself was ignorant of this engrossing tale of the Sultan Mehmet 11 and his siege and eventual conquest of the thousand year city of Byzantium, ruled by Constantine X1, the 57th<\/sup> Emperor of Byzantium.\u00a0 The fall and destruction of this ancient city is simply and well told.<\/p>\n

          Over the Edge of the World\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Laurence Bergreen<\/h2>\n

          Another fascinating historical book of the struggle, journey and death of Magellan, and his extraordinary epic voyage, this Portuguese commander leading a Spanish flotilla of five ships into the unknown, in search of a short route to the Spice Island and eventually circumnavigating the globe, though losing his own life, stabbed by islanders he was subjugating when he believed his own publicity that he was acting for God.\u00a0\u00a0 How often God misleads those in command to their own destruction. Almost as if he sought to demonstrate his own non existence.<\/p>\n

          Party in the Blitz\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elias Canetti<\/h2>\n

          Very fine, beautifully written, occasionally bitchy literary memoir by a man who knew them all.\u00a0 Elegant prose and effortless style and memories of life in the blitz by the exiles from Europe.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Always good to see the British appreciated for their brave stand against tyranny in the forties.<\/p>\n

          London 1945\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maureen Waller<\/h2>\n

          Similar vein, though more clinical and historical.\u00a0\u00a0 This tracks the days of the V2 the Vengeance bomb, that was the worlds first supersonic space missile, that landed on England and created mass destruction, in what everyone thought was the end of the war.\u00a0\u00a0 After five years of slaughter two thousand or more of these missiles shredded the streets of London, creating thirty feet craters and felling whole rows of terraces.\u00a0\u00a0 A miracle anything survived.\u00a0 The bravery and guts of the civilians and the terrible last strain of sleeping in the tubes and in freezing Anderson shelters after years of an exhausting war.\u00a0 They should be honoured.<\/p>\n

          Into a Paris Quartier\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Diane Johnson<\/h2>\n

          A little poule au pot boiler.\u00a0\u00a0 Nicely produced, easy to ignore.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Good Life\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 by Jay MacInnerney<\/h2>\n

          Love and adultery under the shadow of the twin towers.\u00a0 Wife goes on. Neither as gripping nor as dramatic, nor as believable as the real thing.<\/p>\n

          It\u2019s not that this is a bad novel.\u00a0 It\u2019s just that it\u2019s not a good novel.\u00a0 He writes essays about his characters, essays about what they were and what they did, so that their words and behaviour don\u2019t reveal who they are because he is too busy telling you.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s almost journalism.\u00a0 Yes he has a great gift and it took a while before I realised I had had enough.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          102 Minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn<\/h2>\n

          The untold story of the fight to survive inside the Twin Towers.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Terrifying and informative, and instructive about Guiliani lying.\u00a0 The firemen could have been saved…<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2005<\/h1>\n

          Ctrl-Alt- 1-2-3<\/h3>\n

          January thru February<\/h1>\n

          The Kreutzer Sonata\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Margriet de Moor<\/h2>\n

          A rather beautiful slender tender novella about a blind music critic and his powerful love for and jealousy of a Dutch viola player.\u00a0\u00a0 Didn\u2019t quite end up where I expected, but is an interesting tale really nicely told.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Sirens of Titan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kurt Vonnegut<\/h2>\n

          I re-read this on the strength of Hornby\u2019s rave in the Polysyllabic Spree but experienced severe disappointment.\u00a0\u00a0 Am I alone in thinking this rather heavy-handed and overdone?\u00a0\u00a0 Like all fantasy fiction when the world they create becomes didactic rather than recognisable I find I resent being lectured at.<\/p>\n

          The Line of Beauty\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alan Hollinghurst.<\/h2>\n

          The Booker winner.\u00a0 I shouldn\u2019t have ignored Hornby\u2019s hint about this one.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how bad the others were but this was clearly a political correct decision\u2026. I may go back.\u00a0\u00a0 Do I have to?<\/p>\n

          The Ancestor\u2019s Tale\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Dawkins<\/h2>\n

          A backward look at history to where ancestors broke off on our journey.\u00a0 Interesting and then a bit dry.\u00a0 Too much, too detailed.\u00a0\u00a0 His conceit of it as a Canterbury Tale of our biological history is too conceited.<\/p>\n

          Napoleon\u2019s Women\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Hibbert<\/h2>\n

          The man through his women, an interesting look at the man who did so much to ensure there are so few Frenchmen today.\u00a0\u00a0 Of course small penised and selfish sexually, but he did love Josephine and never won another battle after he divorced her.\u00a0 Hibbert is good readable history.\u00a0\u00a0 Gives quite a bit of credence to the murder theory too\u2026.<\/p>\n

          The Wealth of Mr. Waddy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 H. G. Wells<\/h2>\n

          A discovered unpublished 1969 edition of a book he abandoned and which virtually became Mr. Kipps.\u00a0 Actually very funny, very well written and very Dickensian, until the eponymous hilariously bad tempered Mr. Waddy expires and rewards the rather dull grocer Kipps with his fortune and even Wells can\u2019t be bothered to finish the story of him losing it.\u00a0\u00a0 There is a very funny character called Chitterlow who is an impoverished actor and is hilarious.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Much that is funny here.<\/p>\n

          I am Mary Dunne\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brian Moore<\/h2>\n

          A nice early New York novel about a women losing her identity and feeling herself defined only through the men in her life.\u00a0 In this case a rather tiresome alcoholic called Hat, who may or may not have suicided over her.\u00a0 Nice touches, nice observation of Manhattan and the cultural cringe of the Canadian\u2019s coming down to visit.<\/p>\n

          Speed The Plow\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mamet<\/h2>\n

          The fine play, with wonderful dialogue about a newly promoted studio exec and the fight over his soul by his friend and rival and a temp secretary who almost wins him to art before crap wins out.\u00a0\u00a0 A dialogue of the virtues and vices of cinema.<\/p>\n

          Parallel Worlds\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michio Kaku<\/h2>\n

          Steven Weinberg \u201cWith or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil \u2013 that takes religion.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Much to think of in this trip round the current state of the Universe, nicely and patiently explained, though even the most patient layman can hardly follow the abstruse illogic of super string theory which may hold the clue to everything.\u00a0\u00a0 I guess we have to trust them.\u00a0 A nice guide and a thoughtful and sensitive writer the Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Grad Center of the City University of New York.<\/p>\n

          <\/h2>\n

          March thru May<\/h1>\n

          Franklin and Winston\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jon Meacham<\/h2>\n

          Mike Nichols gave me this story of friendship at war between Churchill and Roosevelt.\u00a0\u00a0 A beautiful story.\u00a0\u00a0 How history is changed by individuals.<\/p>\n

          The Way of King Arthur\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Hibbert<\/h2>\n

          Tales of the history of myth.<\/p>\n

          The Rules of Engagement\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anita Brookner<\/h2>\n

          School friends and rivals and their jealousy over a man.<\/p>\n

          Mimi and Toutou\u2019s Big Adventure\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Giles Foden<\/h2>\n

          The true story of the Battle of Lake Tanganyika and a tale of the absurd lengths men will go to kill each other over national rivalry.<\/p>\n

          1215\u00a0 The Year of Mana Carta\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Danny Danziger & John Gilligham<\/h2>\n

          Concept driven history and not as readable as it might be.<\/p>\n

          The Chrysanthemum Palace\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bruce Wagner<\/h2>\n

          Another lovely book about the people who inhabit Hollywoodland.<\/p>\n

          Force Majeure\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bruce Wagner<\/h2>\n

          A re-release of his first book.\u00a0\u00a0 (inscribed by and a gift from the author)<\/p>\n

          Susan Sontag\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Regarding the Pain of Others<\/h2>\n

          Essay on death and art, and capturing the moment in painting and photography<\/p>\n

          Saturday\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian McEwan<\/h2>\n

          A day in the life of Henry Perowne surgeon who wakes to see a plane falling in flames into Heathrow, encounters violent men in a car and questions his life and values.<\/p>\n

          Persuasion\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jane Austen<\/h2>\n

          Snobby old Sir Walter Elliott falls on hard times and takes his family to Bath where the mousey daughter Ann finds true happiness with the right one in the end.<\/p>\n

          Fascination\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd<\/h2>\n

          Stories.\u00a0 I enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

          On The Yankee Station\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd<\/h2>\n

          Re-reading these earlier tales because I found a nice first edition copy.<\/p>\n

          A short history of Nearly Everything\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bill Bryson<\/h2>\n

          A great primer.\u00a0\u00a0 An essential book.\u00a0\u00a0 Just everything.\u00a0 Amazing.<\/p>\n

          The most impressive concise statement of what we think we know and what we know we think.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Actually the Bible of the Unbeliever.<\/p>\n

          Never Let Me Go\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kazuo Ishiguro<\/h2>\n

          Bust sadly I did.\u00a0 Weirdness about kids being raised as replacement parts.<\/p>\n

          Hotel Babylon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anonymous and Imogen Edwards-Jones<\/h2>\n

          Great fun.\u00a0 The \u201ctrue\u201d story of a day in a great hotel in London from the viewpoint of one desk clerk.\u00a0 Obviously many episodes of outrageous human behavior are exposed with great hilarity and glee.<\/p>\n

          <\/h1>\n

          June<\/h1>\n

          The Finishing School\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          Oddly the finish is the least good, but at 85 she is still going strong. A tale of revenge and competitive creation.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Antiquity\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Norman F. Cantor<\/h2>\n

          The F tells us everything we need to know.\u00a0 Not nearly well-written enough book on early history.<\/p>\n

          July<\/h1>\n

          Where Angels Fear to Tread\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E.M .Forster<\/h2>\n

          Beautifully written, great irony, becomes a little Grand Guignol, but nonetheless fine novel.\u00a0\u00a0 England and Italy theme again, though this time the voyage to Italy isn\u2019t quite so successful, then it become starkly tragic as the demented English sister turns out to be nuts.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Philosopher\u2019s Pupil\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Iris Murdoch<\/h2>\n

          I liked this a lot and then I got very tired of it.\u00a0 Control freaks and obsessives and I got to not care about any of them.<\/p>\n

          A Sentimental Education\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Flaubert<\/h2>\n

          I started this again and then left off again.\u00a0\u00a0 I am not such a Flaubert fan as Dickens and Balzac.<\/p>\n

          The Venetian Empire\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jan Morris<\/h2>\n

          A magnificent eloquent brief and descriptive history of the rise and fall of the Venetian Empire (the biggest since Rome) from the Fourth Crusade and the iniquities of the Doge Dandolo subverting the enterprise and destroying the Byzantine Capital instead, to the arrival of the short arsed arrogant control freak Napoleone in St. Mark\u2019s Square. \u00a0Empire is the story of civilisation, it\u2019s what we do.\u00a0 If only Americans read history or had even heard of it\u2026<\/p>\n

          Mr Paradiso\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          I re-read half of this on holiday.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s not as good as the next two he came out with.<\/p>\n

          Life Force\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fay Weldon<\/h2>\n

          Five chums and their husbands and Leslie with the Magnificent Dong and his wife\u2019s vindictive paintings of the locations of their adulteries<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          August thru October<\/h1>\n

          True Crime\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jake Arnott<\/h2>\n

          Very fine circular narrative, but ultimately the multi-personality narrative is a bit confusing.\u00a0 Still he is extraordinarily good.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Bangkok Tattoo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Burdett<\/h2>\n

          The tales of the Thai Police force again.\u00a0 Fab.\u00a0 This one in search of a demented Jap tattoo artist.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Gamblers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Pearson<\/h2>\n

          John Aspinall James Goldsmith and the murder of Lord Lucan.\u00a0\u00a0 Yes Aspers bumped him off to prevent him coming home and revealing how much they had all been a part of the plot to kill his ex-wife.\u00a0 Fascinating, nicely written well very readable<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          I have had a sequel of not finishing novels<\/p>\n

          Which ended with<\/p>\n

          No Country for Old Men\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cormac McCarthy<\/h2>\n

          Which I adored<\/p>\n

          But among the unfinished casualties were<\/p>\n

          Arthur & George\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Barnes<\/h2>\n

          Which I couldn\u2019t get into<\/p>\n

          Lunar Park\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bret Easton Ellis<\/h2>\n

          Which I lost interest in<\/p>\n

          Lord Vishnu\u2019s Love Handles\u00a0\u00a0 Will Clarke<\/h2>\n

          Which was never of much interest and<\/p>\n

          Slow Man\u00a0 by J.M.Coetzee<\/h2>\n

          Which disappeared up it\u2019s own arse when one of his previous characters appeared as the author apparently writing this one.\u00a0 The Post Modernist always Rings Twice\u2026.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Sometimes it is good to remember that you don\u2019t have to finish reading it just because somebody finished writing it\u2026<\/p>\n

          I didn\u2019t quite finish reading<\/p>\n

          The Other Shulman\u00a0\u00a0 by Alan Zweibel<\/h2>\n

          But only because I saw the end coming.\u00a0 I did enjoy it.<\/p>\n

          And I heavily perjured myself by writing nicely about<\/p>\n

          Are My Blinkers Showing\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 by Michael York<\/h2>\n

          Even though it wasn\u2019t as good as I said.\u00a0\u00a0 But it made him very happy.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Film Actors have to be insanely optimistic, dogged as they are by rain, pain and disappointment.\u00a0 Michael York cheerfully and wittily suffers on location in rainy Moscow providing a sympathetic guide to the trials and tribulations of independent film making.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Pity the poor actor:\u00a0 the innocent victim of producers, weather, and wardrobe malfunction.\u00a0 Michael York uses his other persona of intelligent human being to paint a picture of the haphazard world of independent film making.\u00a0 A sympathetic, witty, and occasionally painful account of the new Russia and the insanely maddening world of motion pictures.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          My big delight was<\/p>\n

          Heaven\u2019s Command\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jan Morris<\/h2>\n

          Part One of the Pax Brittanica series which I found utterly magnificent.<\/p>\n

          (see note)\u00a0 and Part Two<\/p>\n

          which I didn\u2019t quite finish though I intend to<\/p>\n

          An Instinct for War\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 by Roger Spiller<\/h2>\n

          Seemed far more interesting in the bookshop than when I got it home.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          I also picked up lots of tiny books from Penguin celebrating their 70th<\/sup> which makes great pocket reading<\/p>\n

          Two Stars\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Theroux<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          On the narcissistic dwarf Elizabeth Taylor and the deader iconic Marylyn Monroe.\u00a0\u00a0 A\u00a0 man of merit discussing the merely meretricious.<\/p>\n

          Likewise<\/p>\n

          The Christians and the Fall of Rome\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edward Gibbon<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          And<\/p>\n

          The State of Poetry\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 by Roger McGough<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          Pretty and pithy<\/p>\n

          And the other Penguin mini\u2019s<\/h4>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Summer in Algiers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Albert Camus<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Bastille Falls\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Simon Schama<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Caligula\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Graves<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Otherwise Pandemonium\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nick Hornby<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          The View from Mount Improbable\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Dawkins<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Orpheus in the Underworld\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Weinberger<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          I read\u00a0 this the libretto for Offenbach\u2019s great romp for research.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          I read all of<\/p>\n

          Persuasion\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 by Jane Austen<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          On planes and stuff which I liked enough<\/p>\n

          And re-read as much as I could take of<\/p>\n

          Emma\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 by Jane Austen<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          When I spotted a second hand book in Scotland.\u00a0\u00a0 But I realised I didn\u2019t like Emma enough to stay with her.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          1759 by Frank McLynn<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          was also pretty interesting though fairly poorly written.\u00a0 I mean dryly and academically and not with the shining brilliance of the scenes from Morris.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Hot Kid\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 by Elmore Leonard\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          Seems to have raised the stakes in this great writer\u2019s career and is approaching the literary novel status<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Notes from a Small Island\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bill Bryson<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          I was enjoying the grimness of being British<\/p>\n

          And really quite enjoying<\/p>\n

          You Shall Know Your Velocity\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 by Dave Eggers<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          At Freddie\u2019s\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penelope Fitzgerald<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          I loved this small gem about a woman who runs a Theatrical school in London for its honest portrait of a flawed but fabulous theatrical female. And I sent it to Tim Curry as a gift.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          November thru December<\/h1>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Trick of It\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Frayn<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          Christmas gift from Mike Nichols who adores it.\u00a0\u00a0 A lit lecturer meets and marries the object of his studies a female novelist, and deconstructs her, partly in letters to his friend in Melbourne, who aptly manages to lose them.<\/p>\n

          I\u2019m not quite sure why Mike adores this book so.\u00a0 Though it isn\u2019t bad.\u00a0 Perhaps something to do with how he suspects he interferes with writers not necessarily to their benefit.\u00a0 Although his fears would be misplaced.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Brooklyn Follies\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Auster<\/h2>\n

          I\u2019m not quite sure why I didn\u2019t stick with this longer, abandoning it when it turned into script dialogue, a novel form I don\u2019t care for.\u00a0\u00a0 Uncle and nephew story that didn\u2019t catch for me.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Counterfeiters\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hugh Kenner<\/h2>\n

          Literary and cultural criticism.\u00a0\u00a0 The counterfeit world.<\/p>\n

          Coleridge\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Cambridge Companion Edited by Lucy Newlyn<\/h2>\n

          Having read a bit about him in the next book I needed a quick reminder of his bio.<\/p>\n

          Men of Honour\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Adam Nicholson<\/h2>\n

          Trafalgar and the Making of the English Hero<\/p>\n

          Contender for Book of the Year his remarkable recreation of the defining naval battle and above all the sheer horror of those days at sea off Trafalgar, the effects of cannon fire on the bodies of ships and men and the sheer nightmare of the storm that follows, makes you realise the reality of warfare apart from the jingoist bullshit.<\/p>\n

          The City of Falling Angels\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Berendt<\/h2>\n

          Another Book of the Year.\u00a0 Unputdownable eye witness tale of the fire at the Fenice, the investigations, the trials, the rumours, the high life, the low life and the workings of Venice, this most fascinating of cities.<\/p>\n

          No Man\u2019s Land\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

          Short novella, crossing into the Iron Curtain, became a movie.<\/p>\n

          Bob Dylan Chronicles, Volume One<\/h2>\n

          Yes he can do anything, and he is just as interesting in prose.\u00a0\u00a0 A remarkable achievement by a remarkable man.<\/p>\n

          The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life,\u00a0 Steve Leveen<\/h2>\n

          Too many words in the title, not a good sign.\u00a0 Someone has no sense of the obvious intruding.\u00a0\u00a0 An attempt to get on the best seller list.\u00a0 Hope it failed.<\/p>\n

          Death In Venice\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Mann<\/h2>\n

          Never my favourite, he falls into the Henry James list (just) for me, and I didn\u2019t change my mind here.<\/p>\n

          Blinding Light\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Theroux<\/h2>\n

          Going through a period of not finishing books, and I stopped this when the sex scenes overtook the probability factor of a travel writer drugging himself to blindness to get in touch er.. with his\u2026it became a pornographic memoir and stopped being interesting or credible.<\/p>\n

          The Year of Magical Thinking\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joan Didion.<\/h2>\n

          Just too damn sad to finish.\u00a0 Death of husband and daughter, oh God.<\/p>\n

          Layer Cake\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J.J. Connolly<\/h2>\n

          I really liked this.\u00a0 Fabulously written and great action, East End villain yarn.<\/p>\n

          1759\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Frank McLynn<\/h2>\n

          The Year Britain became master of the world.\u00a0 Fascinating vignettes but not always well told<\/p>\n

          Pompeii\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Harris<\/h2>\n

          OK historical yarn made interesting by the facts of the eruption.<\/p>\n

          Memories of My Melancholy Whores\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gabriel Garcia Marquez<\/h2>\n

          Old man, final wish, young virgin.<\/p>\n

          A Man without a Country\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kurt Vonnegut<\/h2>\n

          Old man, no virgins, some philosophy<\/p>\n

          Magical Thinking\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Augusten Burroughs<\/h2>\n

          Blenheim\u00a0 Battle for Europe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles Spencer<\/h2>\n

          I learned much from this Diana brother account of his ancestors march to the Danube, and not just how to deal with Cleese.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          adulk \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2004<\/p>\n

          Ctrl-Alt- 1-2-3<\/h3>\n

           <\/p>\n

          November thru December<\/h1>\n

          How we are Hungry\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dave Eggers<\/h2>\n

          Excellent and indeed wonderful book of short stories which are finely matched by the handsome production of this McSweeney\u2019s book.<\/p>\n

          The Polysyllabic Spree\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nick Hornby<\/h2>\n

          A good and appropriate way to end the year, with fourteen essays from his book column in The Believer.\u00a0 His enthusiasms are contagious and I went out instantly in search of many of his suggestions.<\/p>\n

          Nabokov\u2019s Butterfly\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rick Gekoski<\/h2>\n

          Stories about great authors and rare books by a bibliophile American in England.<\/p>\n

          I am Charlotte Simmons\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Wolfe<\/h2>\n

          Oh no you\u2019re not, you\u2019re Tom Wolfe.\u00a0 This is a strangely 19thCentury novel.\u00a0 A big female biography written by a male.\u00a0\u00a0 I think of Richardson, George Eliot or Hardy.\u00a0\u00a0 The weakness of Wolfe is that instead of describing life he writes an essay about it.\u00a0\u00a0 He is more journalist than novelist.\u00a0 This doesn\u2019t make him bad, but it does make him long, an almost fatal mistake in this case for after a while you get it and just give up.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Fatal\u00a0 Impact\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alan Moorhead<\/h2>\n

          The classic elegantly written study of the effects of Captain Cook\u2019s exploration of the Pacific, Australasia and the South Pole.\u00a0\u00a0 All to some extent disastrous.\u00a0 \u201cThe fateful moment when a social capsule is broken open\u201d and the native populations are confronted with European \u201ccivilisation\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 Here the source of the story about the Aborigine\u2019s not recognising Cook\u2019s boat as it was too big for them to recognise\u2026<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          A Murder of Quality\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carre<\/h2>\n

          This is a nice crisp quick crime novel.\u00a0\u00a0 His second book, memorable for the wonderfully precise description and depiction of the snobby English Boarding School and the two v gown conflict.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Fourth Crusade\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jonathan Phillips<\/h2>\n

          And the sack of Constantinople.\u00a0\u00a0 Incredible if sold as a movie, unbelievable as history.\u00a0 But all true.\u00a0 The way the fourth crusade oversold itself and instead of attacking Jerusalem was diverted to attacking Constantinople for financial reasons.\u00a0 Now where have we heard that before?\u00a0 Amazing to think that the Crusades are still continuing in all their ignorance and claims to be acting for God.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s time God was put on trial for war crimes.\u00a0\u00a0 Fine, well written popular history and oh boy\u2026<\/p>\n

          Krakatoa\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Simon Winchester<\/h2>\n

          The Day the World Exploded August 27th<\/sup>, 1883.\u00a0\u00a0 A rather over long but interesting account of plate tectonics and the deadly effect in the Javanese straits, which will continue.\u00a0 Amazing to think I had finished college before most of the theories about Continental Drift were expounded and proven. I found that the best part of the book, aside from the actual cataclysmic event itself, but then he kept being diverted by lesser information and a welter of footnotes.<\/p>\n

          October<\/h1>\n

          Will They Ever Trust Us Again\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Moore<\/h2>\n

          Of course they will.\u00a0 Poor fools.\u00a0 Heart-breaking letters from the war zone.<\/p>\n

          The Making of Henry\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Howard Jacobson<\/h2>\n

          The Manchester world of adultery and finding who is really who, when Henry inherits a sumptuous apartment.<\/p>\n

          The Elementary Particles\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michel Houellebecq<\/h2>\n

          A surprisingly good book.\u00a0 Elegaic and wistful as befits the subject, a farewell to mankind.\u00a0\u00a0 Really about two brothers alienated sexually and lovingly by their selfish sixties mother, one of whom effectively puts an end to mankind\u2019s\u2019 evolution by his research into cloning techniques, which makes sexual reproduction redundant.\u00a0 A good gag and particularly funny on the French..<\/p>\n

          The Da Vinci Code\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dan Brown<\/h2>\n

          A second rate thriller about the perennial conspiracy theorists wet dream, the Quest for the Holy Grail.\u00a0 More a movie than a novel, people behave conveniently for the scene and not for the reality of the story.\u00a0 No dafter than a Tom Cruise movie, but ultimately tiresome.<\/p>\n

          Dead Sexy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kathy Lette<\/h2>\n

          Tiresome for a kind of nudge nudge writing and incessant annoying one liners.\u00a0 It\u2019s instantly forgettable.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          August & September<\/h1>\n

          The Family\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kitty Kelley<\/h2>\n

          Guess who\u2019s coming to Dynasty.\u00a0\u00a0 The unspeakable in pursuit of the undesirable.\u00a0 Very readable Kitty Kelley, really dumps on the first Bush and as for this one:\u00a0 God help America\u2026<\/p>\n

          The Lemon Table\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Barnes<\/h2>\n

          Short stories themed around \u201caging.\u201d<\/p>\n

          The King, the Crook & The Gambler\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Malcolm Balen<\/h2>\n

          Highly readable history of John Law in France and the South Sea Bubble in England, which reminds you that everything is repeated in financial history too, and Greed is it\u2019s own reward and the high and mighty will always shift the blame, but thankfully not for ever\u2026<\/p>\n

          Sweet and Vicious\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Schickler<\/h2>\n

          Good opening, but the plot goes awry and it eventually becomes a movie treatment, which is the modern curse of the novel.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Skinny Dip\u00a0 Carl Hiassen<\/h2>\n

          Really a movie waiting to happen.\u00a0 Things are motivated more like movies than novels, or even life.\u00a0\u00a0 But it\u2019s all eye catching stuff, blondes pushed off the back of cruise liners are fished out by agreeable middle aged ex detectives, elaborate revenges on worthless husbands are plotted out with comic violence.\u00a0 Just not Elmore Leonard.<\/p>\n

          War and Peace\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Leo Tolstoy<\/h2>\n

          The greatest story ever told.\u00a0\u00a0 Certainly the greatest novel.\u00a0 I love the war, hate the peace.\u00a0 Well the peace doesn\u2019t quite live up to the spectacular way he recreates Austerlitz or the occupation of Moscow, through the eyes of several participants at once.\u00a0\u00a0 In the end he can\u2019t let go and it turns into a series of essays on the shittiness of Napoleon, but we\u2019ve got it already.\u00a0 No need to keep banging on.\u00a0\u00a0 Prince Andrey dies several times, Pierre, the Count Behuzov becomes a pain in the ass when he goes through his Masonic stage, but these are mere quibbles set beside the masterful writing and characters he effortlessly creates.<\/p>\n

          Swann\u2019s Way\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Marcel Proust<\/h2>\n

          Got about half way through this new translation by Lydia Davis before realizing that still I don\u2019t much care for Monsieur Proust\u2026<\/p>\n

          Lions and Shadows\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Isherwood<\/h2>\n

          Not quite honest memoirs of the homosexualist and his pal Auden, carefully disguised and cleaned up.\u00a0 But the Cambridge days are very good indeed and that trepidation and joy of first setting foot on the Continent as a young schoolboy.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          <\/h2>\n

          June & July<\/h1>\n

          Heroes of History\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Will Durant<\/h2>\n

          Essential.\u00a0\u00a0 Elegantly written history of civilisation.\u00a0 Thought, religion, history, philosophy.\u00a0\u00a0 Very fine indeed.<\/p>\n

          The Pat Hobby Stories\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald.<\/h2>\n

          I loved re-reading these interlinked stories about a shameless alcoholic writer in the Studio days of Hollywood.\u00a0\u00a0 This would make a very good HBO series!!<\/p>\n

          This Side of Paradise\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald.<\/h2>\n

          The iron pansy.\u00a0\u00a0 Early and irritatingly flashy.<\/p>\n

          Babylon Revisited\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald<\/h2>\n

          Fitzgerald is best at irony and close details of reality.\u00a0 The Diamond as Big as The Ritz is a Fairy Tale and all his skills are therefore redundant.\u00a0 It\u2019s as if he is suddenly trying to become Roald Dahl.\u00a0 What he is good at is so much harder to achieve that this is a waste.\u00a0\u00a0 May Day reveals his innate snobbery.\u00a0 Dickens would never have talked of the working classes as \u201cvermin.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps as he is an aspirer and not really from the Uppers, he is afraid of the class beneath him.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          1066\u00a0 The Year of the Conquest\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Howarth<\/h2>\n

          Nice compact concise telling of the events of the most fateful year, when the nasty bastard William grabbed the throne of England from the much nicer but desperately unlucky Harold.\u00a0\u00a0 Author suggests it was the pope and the papal excommunication of Harold that made the difference.<\/p>\n

          Tender is the Night\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald.<\/h2>\n

          Oh how lovely.\u00a0 My final attempt to read this work, which I have never previously enjoyed.\u00a0 This time I think it is fantastic.\u00a0 First book is particularly good, then there are time leaps, but as it took him seventeen drafts to write it I am not surprised it took me about three to read it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now I love it.\u00a0\u00a0 It is clearly one of his finest books.<\/p>\n

          Positively Fifth Street\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Mc\u00a0Manus<\/h2>\n

          The tale of the murder of Binyon, the owner of the Horseshoe hotel, by his very nasty wife and her boyfriend, and the author\u2019s achievements during a poker tournament in Vegas.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps a little more poker than you might need, but none the less a fascinating book and you can see why it achieved best sellerdom.<\/p>\n

          Sixpence House\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Collins<\/h2>\n

          A lovely tale of an American\u2019s attempt to move to the village of Hay-on-Wye a town full of books, and try and live there.\u00a0 He at least has the sense to return to the states after a year.\u00a0 This is a lovely book, by, for and about bookworms\u2026.<\/p>\n

          The Truth About Lorin Jones\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alison Lurie<\/h2>\n

          A feminist author identifies with her artist subject only to discover that there is more (or less) to her.\u00a0\u00a0 I didn\u2019t stay for the entire truth.<\/p>\n

          May<\/h1>\n

          The Five People You Meet after Death<\/h2>\n

          One was enough.\u00a0 In many ways death seems more attractive\u2026<\/p>\n

          Eats, shoots and leaves<\/h2>\n

          A pleasant punctuation amongst more serious reads.<\/p>\n

          War is a Force that Gives us Meaning\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chris Hedges<\/h2>\n

          An essential text book for understanding the main human occupation.\u00a0 A brilliant and thought provoking book.\u00a0\u00a0 Utterly recommended.<\/p>\n

          Ten Days To D- Day\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Stafford<\/h2>\n

          Essentially snap shots, cross-cutting technique, virtually TV documentary style, which non the less utterly succeeds in giving a multi-viewpoint picture of the extraordinary events up to D-Day.\u00a0 To cut from the Furher hosting a wedding in the Bergdof to Ike preparing his main gives you a God\u2019s-eye perspective of the most important event of the 20th<\/sup> Century.\u00a0\u00a0 You slip behind the lines, Jewish people in hiding, resistance workers, it is a brilliant and appropriate technique and comes off very well.<\/p>\n

          D-Day\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Gilbert<\/h2>\n

          A precise, concise telling of the D-day landings.\u00a0\u00a0 Nice and brief but at the same time comprehensive.<\/p>\n

          Nothing Lost\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Gregory Dunne<\/h2>\n

          Despite his rather irritating use of multi-viewpoint first person narrative, so you are never quite sure who is speaking at first, and his refusal to use quotation marks for dialogue, this is still an effective novel, that draws together a difficult story,\u00a0 essentially a mystery murder, trial and Washington expose mix.\u00a0 Some nice digs at the shallow race who inhabit the chat waves and the superficial level of the coverage of complex stories on a sexually obsessed media.<\/p>\n

          The Art of Travel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alain de Botton<\/h2>\n

          Elegantly written essays combining love of literature with travel.\u00a0 Essentially literate travel articles, but with interesting information about writers particularly Wordsworth.<\/p>\n

          Bech is Back\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Updike<\/h2>\n

          Continuing my summer re-reading.\u00a0 This starts strongly and then weakens.\u00a0 But then, what doesn\u2019t?<\/p>\n

          Strangers on a Train\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

          Somehow and oddly this one didn\u2019t grab me.<\/p>\n

          Paris in the Fifties\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stanley Karnow<\/h2>\n

          A lovely book, about just that:\u00a0 Paris in the Fifties\u2026<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          April<\/h1>\n

          Miss Lonely Hearts\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nathaniel West<\/h2>\n

          The classic.\u00a0 A re-read.<\/p>\n

          The Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Boyer<\/h2>\n

          An eccentric and rather funny novel of a crack up, elegantly written.<\/p>\n

          The Great Gatsby\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Scott Fitzgerald<\/h2>\n

          Still the most perfect American novel.\u00a0\u00a0 The control and the simplicity of the structure and the lyrical freedom of the writing, and the taut plotting, so that what seems to be fairly random drives straight towards the tragic ending.\u00a0 I had forgotten how savage he is with the character of Tom, who essentially creates the tragedy by lying,\u00a0 and how Daisy in the end colludes with him.<\/p>\n

          I could re-read it instantly.<\/p>\n

          Middlesex\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeffery Eugenides<\/h2>\n

          In the end this book was more Homeric in length than I needed and I bailed, but I certainly liked the early Greek tale of the Grandparents leaving Greece and it\u2019ll probably become a fairly long film.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          March<\/h1>\n

          Sixty-Six\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barry Levinson<\/h2>\n

          I really liked Barry\u2019s telling of his Diner early days and the characters of Baltimore just leaving High School.\u00a0 Nicely written and sharply observed.<\/p>\n

          Trouble\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fay Weldon<\/h2>\n

          The trouble with \u201cTrouble\u201d is that the single narrative roman a cle can be very useful but only if it doesn\u2019t create just a single minded desire for revenge.\u00a0 We need to feel the world around.\u00a0 It works best if the voice permits irony rather than hammering on telling us what to think until in the end we grow weary of being hectored.<\/p>\n

          The Last Tycoon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald.<\/h2>\n

          I like this book a lot.\u00a0 I like it I suspect more than I would have liked it if it were finished, judging by the rough plot outlines that remain.\u00a0 Stahr, a man haunted by the ghost of his wife, falls for a young woman who looks like him, but cannot give up the hard work that drives him to his death.\u00a0 This romance of an older man, is beautifully done by F. and the glimpse into the methods of the novelist, how he goes about constructing his scenes, is more than instructive, it gives the book its claim to be the first post-modern classic.\u00a0 Its tale and message, the surprising choice of narrator \u2013 Cecilia, a young daughter of Stahr\u2019s envious studio rival \u2013 makes it stay in the memory for day\u2019s afterwards, so that you puzzle out what is happening, rather than having it spelled out, as in a regular novel.<\/p>\n

          The Stranger at The Palazzo D\u2019Oro\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Theroux<\/h2>\n

          The Stranger at The Palazzo D\u2019Oro is almost a novella, and fascinating and very well written.\u00a0 There are a bunch of short stories, some about Africa, perhaps the best is Dishevelled Nymphs.\u00a0 Mostly the theme is old lust at sixty.\u00a0 The appeal of the novella is the nostalgia for the lust of lost youth.<\/p>\n

          The Berlin Stories\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Isherwood.<\/h2>\n

          A fine first edition of both, sent to me by a casual acquaintance.\u00a0 The Last of Mr Norris (the American title) is less good than I previously thought, and Goodbye to Berlin collapses with the early departure of Sally Bowles.\u00a0\u00a0 I had not remembered that fact either.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Deep Water\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

          The usual utterly engrossing read.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Melinda the giddy flirt who takes lovers and Vic, the coolly observant husband who kills them, and eventually Melinda as his psychosis takes over.\u00a0\u00a0 How odd then that we should so sympathise with Vic and hope that he will not be caught, and even detest the people who rightly suspect him of murder!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>She is a fabulous if weird writer.<\/p>\n

          Chicago Loop\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Theroux<\/h2>\n

          I found a nice first edition and decided to try this again.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like books where the protagonist suddenly turns out to be mad or a murderer.\u00a0 This is the latter.\u00a0 I find it deceitful and dislike it.<\/p>\n

          The Seven Ages of Paris\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alistair Horne<\/h2>\n

          Destined to become a classic.\u00a0 The most enjoyable book I have read in a very long time.\u00a0 A thorough but very readable history of Paris from Roman times to De Gaulle.\u00a0 Wonderful and great.\u00a0 I dreaded coming to the end.\u00a0 A must re-read book.\u00a0 He is right, Paris has a much more interesting history than London.<\/p>\n

          The Good German\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Kanon<\/h2>\n

          It starts off like a book, and a very good one, and then turns into a book of a movie.\u00a0\u00a0 So he\u2019s not exactly the new Graham Greene but someone making novels out of Graham Greene movies.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u00a0 ain\u2019t bad, it just is less than first rate.\u00a0 A murder mystery set in the ruins of Berlin.<\/p>\n

          February<\/h1>\n

          Before The Deluge\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Otto Friedrich<\/h2>\n

          Berlin in the 20\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0 Yes I read it again.<\/p>\n

          Down and Dirty Pictures\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter Biskind<\/h2>\n

          More than you ever needed to know about Harvey Weinstein and the world of \u201cindependent\u201d film making.\u00a0 I found it depressing, overfull, and in the end boring.\u00a0 Like Harvey\u2026<\/p>\n

          Michelangelo and The Pope\u2019s Ceiling\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ross King<\/h2>\n

          Perhaps a bit more than you needed to know about either.\u00a0 Uncomfortably written.\u00a0 Both of these last two books are essentially articles\u2026<\/p>\n

          January<\/h1>\n

          A Pound of Paper<\/h2>\n

          Confessions of a Book Addict.\u00a0 A great memoir and essay on books, book collecting and the romance and the appeal of books by the Australian writer and book fiend John Baxter.\u00a0 A great start to 2004.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Price of Loyalty\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ron Suskind<\/h2>\n

          Appallingly written best seller which sounded much better as a sound bite.<\/p>\n

          How a rather dull man worked for a rather dull President and found him to be a manipulative and motivated bastard.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Mr. Paradise\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard.<\/h2>\n

          I\u2019m going to confess to a little disappointment.\u00a0 This one seemed to me to be by the numbers.\u00a0 Plus his writing is getting so cryptic, this is almost a shooting script, and I had to keep going back and checking who was who.\u00a0 It\u2019s very confusing since one of the protagonists is asked to masquerade as one of the victims, and that took a bit of sorting out.\u00a0 It was an undoubted pleasure as he can never be bad, but it was tinged with some regret.<\/p>\n

          Absolute Friends \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carre<\/h2>\n

          I enjoyed most of this, then it lost me, then he got me again.\u00a0\u00a0 This is a cry against the current invasive form of America.\u00a0\u00a0 And a surprisingly loud one.<\/p>\n

          Though Mundy, the exiled bowler-hatted Brit comes to life the best friend Sasha remains a cipher.\u00a0 The paradigm is friendship \u2013 the Anglo\/American as much as Mundy\/Sasha.\u00a0 How far should you trust your friend?\u00a0 The answer is you shouldn\u2019t when they are motivated by beliefs you don\u2019t share as they will get you killed.\u00a0 In it\u2019s way as subversive as the Quiet American.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Best Awful\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carrie Fisher<\/h2>\n

          Awful.\u00a0\u00a0 A thinly veiled book.\u00a0 After day one of her Postcard from the Ego she reveals her husband is gay, they have a little girl and she fucks Jack Nicholson.\u00a0\u00a0 Wow.\u00a0 The novel as ego trip.\u00a0 I threw it away hard.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          <\/h2>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2003<\/h3>\n

          January \u2013 March<\/h1>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Robert Maxwell Israeli spy<\/h2>\n

          Probably the most fascinating account of the bloated white shark who was found abandoned at sea off his luxury yacht in the Med. and how he got there \u2013 pushed overboard by Mossad for whom he worked and whom he was trying to shake down.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The picture of the ruthless efficiency of Mossad is very convincing and fascinating.\u00a0 But the way Maxwell interfaced between Presidents and tyrants and what the elder Bush was up to \u2013 wow!\u00a0 What a read.<\/p>\n

          Kafka was the Rage\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anatole Broyard<\/h2>\n

          A Greenwich village Memoir.\u00a0 Interesting and finely written.<\/p>\n

          The Red Notebook\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Auster<\/h2>\n

          The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William L. Shirer<\/h2>\n

          The most fabulous book.\u00a0\u00a0 Incredibly detailed and always highly readable.\u00a0 The incredible fact that Shirer was present in Berlin as an American correspondent during the advent of Nazism in the thirties adds such depth to his tale of the rise of the fanatical bloodthirsty megalomaniac and how Hitler achieved it democratically, led the country into war and never looked back until he had torn it to pieces.\u00a0 I loved every page of this most amazing history book.\u00a0\u00a0 A warning in these times.<\/p>\n

          Yoga for People who can\u2019t be bothered to do it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Geoff Dyer<\/h2>\n

          Geoff Dyer is not a particularly nice person and he doesn\u2019t try to disguise it, but he is very self-obsessed and highly driven and he is rarely dull and he can certainly write.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Last Lion\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Manchester<\/h2>\n

          The second and apparently final volume of a three part biography of the greatest Englishman.(!)\u00a0 The pre-war wilderness years leading up to the\u00a0 outbreak of war and at last the eleventh hour call to make him PM.\u00a0\u00a0 The courage and the bravery of tracking Hitler and his rise almost single-handedly while Chamberlain and his skulking rascals looked the other way and were constantly hoodwinked by the rise of evil\u2026how often they might have called his bluff and prevented bloodshed.\u00a0 How often they sought appeasement as they tried to avoid the horrors of World War One only to march straight into the horrors of World War Two. \u00a0Salutary and breathtaking and great history.\u00a0 What a story, what a time, what a man.<\/p>\n

          Holiday Reading:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 March<\/h1>\n

          The Long Goodbye\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Chandler<\/h2>\n

          Marlowee picks up a drunk guy with a scar who eventually becomes a Mexican with a face job.\u00a0 In the meantime rich women get shot and the poor get drunk.\u00a0\u00a0 Near parody writing sounds like Humphrey Bogarde.\u00a0 Neo-misogyny, alcoholism, quasi-racism and a total refusal to accept money makes Marlowe somewhat priggish by today\u2019s hero standards.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Dreaming Oil\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gore Vidal<\/h2>\n

          Paranoia is just possession of the facts?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Some quasi facts and lots of paranoia from the master of the dispossessed about Bush Cheney and their connections to Bin Laden and oil politics in the middle east resulting in this current godawful war.\u00a0\u00a0 Killing for Christ?<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Transparent Things\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nabokov<\/h2>\n

          An experimental novel.\u00a0\u00a0 Like a movie in many ways, with odd cuts and interesting sequences, but never totally holding you.<\/p>\n

          The Last Days of Hitler\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hugh Trevor-Roper<\/h2>\n

          The first and classic account, subsequently revised and reprinted.\u00a0\u00a0 It is such a joy to watch the dawning realization of total defeat on the century\u2019s number one totalitarian bastard.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A very good book.<\/p>\n

          April – May<\/h1>\n

          Waiting for the Barbarians\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J.M.Koetzee<\/h2>\n

          The Royals\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kitty Kelley<\/h2>\n

          Thoroughly enjoyable and readable and certainly an eye opener \u2013 and thankfully written before Diana\u2019s death so that hagiography has not yet set in and one can see her for the schemer she really was.\u00a0\u00a0 Also a fairly sympathetic portrayal of poor Charles and his appalling parents.\u00a0 Dad\u2019s mistresses etc. Good pop biography.<\/p>\n

          The Indian Lover\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Garth Murphy<\/h2>\n

          How do you tell a friend?\u00a0\u00a0 Quite well written not very interesting..<\/p>\n

          The Autograph Man\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Zadie Smith<\/h2>\n

          I\u2019m not quite sure what all the fuss is about.\u00a0\u00a0 It kind of leaves me a bit cold.<\/p>\n

          Bone in the Throat\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Bourdain<\/h2>\n

          At last something to shout about.\u00a0 A great crime writer.\u00a0\u00a0 Realistic, witty and great.\u00a0 A book writing chef.\u00a0\u00a0 Chapeau!.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t put it down and raced to buy anything else I could.<\/p>\n

          The Bobby Gold Stories\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Bourdain<\/h2>\n

          And indeed here it is, his finest novel.\u00a0 Romantic, well crafted, a wonderful read.\u00a0\u00a0 Excellent work.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          June \u2013 July<\/h1>\n

          Kitchen Confidential\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Bourdain<\/h2>\n

          A Cook\u2019s Tour of backstage in the kitchen and memoirs of a young chef, and an important reminder always to tip well in a restaurant and never eat fish on a Monday.<\/p>\n

          The Orchid Thief\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Susan Orlean<\/h2>\n

          I found this best seller somewhat tiresome, poorly written and unfocused and I totally understand why the poor fuck who had to write the screenplay decided to write about himself having to do it.<\/p>\n

          Bangkok 8\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Burdett<\/h2>\n

          A very readable and highly enjoyable novel set in Thailand about a Buddhist policeman and his search for the killer of his murdered partner.<\/p>\n

          Not quite the heart of darkness but certainly the liver \u2013 with a memorable narcissistic American black athletic Army sergeant suspect.<\/p>\n

          Between Meals\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A.J.Liebling<\/h2>\n

          Perhaps the most interesting thing about this book is why Ricky Jay finds it so compelling he sends it to everyone he knows.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s a gourmets guide to Paris, both historical and pastoral.\u00a0\u00a0 If you like eating meat and drinking to excess and reading about it, then this is for you.\u00a0\u00a0 If not \u2013 it\u2019s like having your ear bent by the fat drunk at the next table.<\/p>\n

          The Best democracy Money Can Buy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Greg Palast<\/h2>\n

          Shocking.\u00a0\u00a0 If only even a half of what he asserts is true we are in deep doo-doo.\u00a0 Amazing just how much evil American journalism can overlook while kissing the ass of the White House occupant.\u00a0 How the election was stolen \u2013 and the story of Ms Harris and the Florida rolls \u2013 it\u2019s all very scary.<\/p>\n

          Stupid White Men\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Moore<\/h2>\n

          Moore of the same.\u00a0 Nailing the Prez and his horrible henchmen.<\/p>\n

          The Pleasure of My Company\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Steve Martin<\/h2>\n

          But alas the company of his pleasure is more desirable.\u00a0 How to tell your pal that his next book is disappointing?\u00a0 I never like novels about nut cases.\u00a0 In this case the hero is a compulsive semi-stalker.\u00a0\u00a0 I was happy putting the book down.<\/p>\n

          The Beginning of Spring\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penelope Fitzgerald.<\/h2>\n

          Didn\u2019t begin well enough for me to stay till summer.\u00a0 Bummer.<\/p>\n

          The Little Sister\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Chandler<\/h2>\n

          Enough already.\u00a0 Let\u2019s just say that Chandler\u2019s reputation couldn\u2019t get any bigger.\u00a0 Metaphors that draw attention to themselves, improbable plots, unlikely characters and everything written as a Humphrey Bogarde voice over.\u00a0\u00a0 When does one yell Cut?\u00a0 He\u2019s Hammet without the Prince.\u00a0 I\u2019m tired of him.<\/p>\n

          Always Look on the Bright Side of Life\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Sellers<\/h2>\n

          Great title by the way.\u00a0\u00a0 The rise and fall of Handmade Films as told by the victims.\u00a0 For me fascinating and I definitely got my oar in.\u00a0 As far as I can tell accurate portrait of the con man that was O\u2019Brien and the arrogance which led to his demise.<\/p>\n

          The Cliveden Set\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Norman Rose<\/h2>\n

          A history of the house \u2013 the horrible Astors and their appeasement set.\u00a0 Anti-semitic Nancy.\u00a0 Shame they don\u2019t cover the Profumo time which is far more fascinating.<\/p>\n

          The Gangs of New York\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Herbert Asbury<\/h2>\n

          So many fascinating true stories it\u2019s amazing they managed to make such a dull unrealistic film of it.\u00a0\u00a0 Never be fooled by the apparent calm surface of history \u2013 underneath there is a constant thieving and murdering, conniving and contriving cess pit of the underworld, here brilliantly recreated.<\/p>\n

          To Kill a Mockingbird\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Harper Lee<\/h2>\n

          I had never read this Pulitzer prize winning novel.\u00a0\u00a0 And now I have.<\/p>\n

          Drop City\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 T.C.Boyle<\/h2>\n

          I liked the bit about Trouble in the Hippy Camp, but lost interest when they all moved up to Alaska.\u00a0 A kind gift from a visiting Palin, who must have run across T.C. on his own book tour.<\/p>\n

          The Friends of Eddie Coyle\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 George V.Higgins<\/h2>\n

          A great classic thriller.<\/p>\n

          Gone Bamboo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Bourdain<\/h2>\n

          I like his crime books.\u00a0 A lot.<\/p>\n

          Diary of a Djinn\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gini Alhadeff<\/h2>\n

          Missed the point.<\/p>\n

          Mary Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley\u00a0\u00a0 Alison Weir<\/h2>\n

          She is way too prolix.\u00a0 I wish she had an editor who would cut her books by a quarter.\u00a0 She does the scenes from history very well but there is endless historical discussion.\u00a0 She should just write popular history or be an academic \u2013 this falls unsatisfactorily in between.<\/p>\n

          Scipio Africanus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 B.H.Liddell Hart<\/h2>\n

          Greater than Napoleon.\u00a0 But not as interesting.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          September<\/h1>\n

          Murder by Hollywood\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Steve Bochko<\/h2>\n

          Excellent, gripping, funny and rude<\/p>\n

          Bringing Down the House\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ben Mezrich<\/h2>\n

          An inside story of six M.I.T. students who teamed up and took Vegas for millions.<\/p>\n

          Breakfast of Champions\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kurt Vonnegut<\/h2>\n

          A re-read and I forgot to take notes\u2026\u00a0 The one with drawings<\/p>\n

          Marlborough\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Winston S. Churchill<\/h2>\n

          The Life and Times Book One.\u00a0 A brilliant history of his fascinating ancestor<\/p>\n

          Our Tempestuous Day\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carolly Erickson<\/h2>\n

          A good gossipy history of Regency England.<\/p>\n

          Freaky Deaky\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          The second time I\u2019ve read it and enjoyed it and I\u2019ve still forgotten the plot already.<\/p>\n

          The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alexander McCall Smith<\/h2>\n

          I didn\u2019t get into this much admired series.<\/p>\n

          Executioners Current\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Moran<\/h2>\n

          Edison, Westinghouse and the Invention of the Electric Chair<\/p>\n

          Fates Worse than death\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kurt Vonnegut<\/h2>\n

          Essays and memoirs.<\/p>\n

          The Age of Reason\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Harold Nicholson<\/h2>\n

          Pages of history.\u00a0 From the Czar to Rousseau to Thomas Paine. A History of the Enlightenment.<\/p>\n

          The Greedy Bastard Tour<\/em><\/h1>\n

          October thru December<\/h1>\n

          Foreign Affairs \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alison Lurie<\/h2>\n

          A wonderful tender book about an elderly Anglophile English professor and her adventures in England amongst the acting classes \u2013 the quite dreadful and realistic Rosemary.\u00a0\u00a0 And a tender portrait of an elderly Houston man, who seems to be a crass tourist but whom she reveals and paints perfectly as a sad and sorry victim.\u00a0 The dog of depression as a character.\u00a0 (1985 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.)<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Jafsie and John Henry\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mamet<\/h2>\n

          Very enjoyable essays by the ferocious one. He writes with elegance and eloquence on a variety of subjects \u2013 from malt whiskey to the \u201chouse envy\u201d he suffers when visiting despicable film producers in Hollywood.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Hard Times\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles Dickens<\/h2>\n

          Actually a great opening and then descends into mawkishness and tedium.\u00a0 It\u2019s a kind of Dickens play with the Northern accents\u2026<\/p>\n

          The Girl in Blue\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 P. G. Wodehouse<\/h2>\n

          Great opening.\u00a0 So clear, so funny and so real.\u00a0\u00a0 I lost interest when he gets into the usual English country house types.\u00a0 I think he has a unique talent which never quite stretched itself.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost as if he settles for peaceful comedy when he could really have been more Waugh-like in his satire.<\/p>\n

          Elizabeth Costello\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J.M.Coetzee<\/h2>\n

          A delightful novel about an Australian English professor at large.\u00a0 Really a long discussion about the meaning and importance of the novelist and how she defines herself in the modern world.\u00a0 An important discussion about Evil and how and whether it should be dealt with by the novelist, in West\u2019s book about the execution of Von Staffenburg.\u00a0 (I\u2019m unsure if he is a fictitious character or not.)\u00a0\u00a0 The whole thing for me is marred at the end by a sort of Kafkaesque post life inquisition.\u00a0 The wheels come off the vehicle, which is a pity as this is otherwise a great novel.<\/p>\n

          Yellow Dog\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/h2>\n

          I\u2019m sorry, I thought this was crap. He seems like a talent without focus.\u00a0 Almost as though he suspects he is faking it, when he has all the tools to do the job properly.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Still Holding.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bruce Wagner.<\/h2>\n

          Fabulous novel.\u00a0 Wonderfully written and executed.\u00a0 I loved every minute of it.\u00a0 A Buddhist discussion and Hollywood story about a star Kit, who is bashed on the head and enters a vegetable state.<\/p>\n

          Oracle Night\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Auster<\/h2>\n

          A weird novel.\u00a0 Somehow unbelievable.\u00a0 The plot seems contrived.\u00a0 He writes about novelists and novels within novels and somehow it never comes to life.\u00a0\u00a0 Disappointing work.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Bravemouth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pamela Stephenson<\/h2>\n

          Living with Billy Connolly.\u00a0 Like a fanzine after the first book.\u00a0 She is so discreetly not naming names about the Fiji holiday that we learn way too much about the fa\u2019fafine.\u00a0\u00a0 Too soon, too little.\u00a0 Obviously for the money.<\/p>\n

          Good title though.\u00a0 (By me!)<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Statement\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brian Moore<\/h2>\n

          Tense and taut and as tight as the best of Graham Greene.\u00a0 A re-reading of one of Brian\u2019s finest.\u00a0 You can\u2019t put it down.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Prey\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Crichton<\/h2>\n

          All plot.\u00a0\u00a0 I was going along happily and then put it down for a day and then thought who cares?<\/p>\n

          Good Omens\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett<\/h2>\n

          That rarest of books a funny novel.\u00a0 About the forces of Lucifer in South London\u2026<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          December end of year<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

          The Blunderer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

          What makes her so good is she always avoids the predictable, and just when you think she might be going there she changes focus.\u00a0 This about the loser husband who doesn\u2019t murder his wife but is murdered by the man who murdered his wife.\u00a0 Very Hitchcock.\u00a0 Unpredictable and quirky and like life.\u00a0 She has the inability of characters to understand what is happening to them down perfectly.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Inventing a Nation\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gore Vidal<\/h2>\n

          Historical essays by Gore on Washington, Adams, Jefferson.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure Gore has quite made up his mind\u2026
          \n2002<\/h2>\n

          December<\/h1>\n

          Rich Dust\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 George Greenfield<\/h2>\n

          A gem of a book.\u00a0 Rather beautiful little novella of a small army corps sent out to delay Rommels advance in North Africa, so that the British army could dig in at El Alamein.\u00a0 Through tiny details he makes you appreciate both how character can be misinterpreted and how it can also make a difference in a vast battlefield.\u00a0\u00a0 His knowledge of being there and the banality of war is what makes his story telling unforgettable.<\/p>\n

          When the Women Come Out to Dance\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          Longish short stories from the master.\u00a0 He is at the top of his game.\u00a0 He evokes story character and plot effortlessly.\u00a0 Any one of these could have developed into full length novels.\u00a0 Three or four of them are disappointing only because they\u2019re short\u2026.He seems brimming with creativity and getting even better.\u00a0 Wow.<\/p>\n

          Who\u2019s Sorry Now\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Howard Jacobson<\/h2>\n

          I like him.\u00a0 But this one \u2013 about the philanderer swapping wives with the good husband left me a little unmoved and somewhat confused.\u00a0 He\u2019s trying to understand the nature of male sexuality, but seems to give up with his hero submitting to bondage and a beating.\u00a0\u00a0 Not his best.<\/p>\n

          White Teeth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Zadie Smith<\/h2>\n

          I really liked it.\u00a0 And then I got a bit bored half way through.\u00a0\u00a0 Way too long.\u00a0\u00a0 But she can write.<\/p>\n

          Power and Greed\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philippe Gigantes<\/h2>\n

          A short history of the world.\u00a0\u00a0 A great reach and a damn fine overview.\u00a0 A book about human power, greed, warfare, theocracies and the realities of world history. Including September 11th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Very very interesting<\/p>\n

          The Dreadful Judgement\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Neil Hanson<\/h2>\n

          The dreadful writing.\u00a0\u00a0 Fascinating story of the Great Fire of London, overtold and oversold \u2013 for example with fictional scenes interspersed.\u00a0 Though you cannot utterly ruin the subject.\u00a0 Still he tries hard.<\/p>\n

          War and Peace\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Byrne<\/h2>\n

          The survival of the Talbots of Malahide.\u00a0 Local Dublin history of the castle, 1641 \u2013 1671<\/p>\n

          In Between the sheets\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian McEwan<\/h2>\n

          Short stories, erotic and occasionally violent.<\/p>\n

          The Heart of a Dog\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mikhail Bulgakov<\/h2>\n

           <\/p>\n

          November<\/h1>\n

          The Book of Illusions\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Auster<\/h2>\n

          A damn fine novel.\u00a0 Elegantly written and breathlessly told story of the re-awakening of a shattered human.<\/p>\n

          Dark Knights & Holy Fools\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bob McCabe<\/h2>\n

          Which Terry is I\u2019m not sure.\u00a0 Perhaps a Dark Fool\u2026.<\/p>\n

          Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gore Vidal<\/h2>\n

          Perpetual bickering from the Sapphic master of moans.\u00a0 He only goes too far in his attempt to sanitise Timothy McVeigh whom he seems to have fallen in love with a la Truman Capote and his murderous little friends.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps this is a function of his homosexuality \u2013 the ultimate rough trade thrill.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He was definitely cold shouldered when he broached the subject at Wendy Asher\u2019s dinner party.\u00a0 McVeigh is a pathetic result of the Gulf War not a Government martyr.<\/p>\n

          The Switch\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Lepnard<\/h2>\n

          An old one and a good one.\u00a0 Of course.\u00a0 But which one erm\u2026.\u00a0 The one where the husband doesn\u2019t don\u2019t want the wife back and the sexy kinapper lets her go, and shoots the others\u2026<\/p>\n

          The Life and Times of Charles 11\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Falkus<\/h2>\n

          A fascinating childhood and escape on the run for the self indulgent man who observed his father murdered and re-gained the crown and then spent most of his time shagging actresses while London burned\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

          Elegy for Iris\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Bayley<\/h2>\n

          A lovely wistful elegiac book about his great love for Iris Murdoch and her sad decline into the veil of Alzheimmers\u2026<\/p>\n

          1688\u00a0 A Global History\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John E.Wills<\/h2>\n

          Just that.\u00a0 A look around the world that year.\u00a0 And what a fascinating way to treat history.\u00a0 Simple and yet broad in scope.\u00a0 From Versailles, to Ireland the British Revolution, to Africa and slaving, to China, to Islam.\u00a0 It reminds us of just how diverse this planet has always been.\u00a0 Recommended.<\/p>\n

          The Four Agreements\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don Miguel Ruiz.<\/h2>\n

          I forget what they are but it\u2019s hard to disagree.\u00a0 The mass marketing of the meaning of life.\u00a0\u00a0 Shades of Castenada \u2013 this time it\u2019s the Toltecs whose wisdom was so etc etc\u2026<\/p>\n

          Step Across This Line\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Salman Rushdie.<\/h2>\n

          Collected non fiction.\u00a0\u00a0 Essays and journalism from this aggressive and honest mind.<\/p>\n

          Killing Pablo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mark Bowden<\/h2>\n

          The great chase for the Columbian monster, who was finally hunted down with bags of clandestine US support and some help from his ego.\u00a0 A bandit and a ruthless one.<\/p>\n

          Kissing Manhattan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Schickler<\/h2>\n

          Interconnected stories of slightly weird sex in Manhattan.\u00a0\u00a0 Nicely constructed, bright, realistic people, artfully handled and very well written.\u00a0 A very fine book which I enjoyed.<\/p>\n

          The Debt to Pleasure\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Lanchester<\/h2>\n

          Is it just too self assured, just too divinely written, or is that needless carping?\u00a0 It\u2019s certainly engrossing but something \u2013 the sheer nauseating loquacity of the narrator perhaps \u2013 filled me with disquiet, and yes I know that was the intended effect but shouldn\u2019t I have been more elated by this very well written novel, than I ultimately was.\u00a0 (That\u2019s the way he writes\u2026)<\/p>\n

          The Mimic Men\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 V.S. Naipaul<\/h2>\n

          Colonial man in a post colonial world.<\/p>\n

          All the stories of \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          From Paris to the Moon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Adam Gopnik<\/h2>\n

          Wonderful story of Americans in Paris.\u00a0 Excellent memoirs of life in Paris for a young writer and his wife and child.\u00a0 Makes you want to catch the first plane.<\/p>\n

          September \u2013 October<\/h1>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Blood Feud\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Harry Potter<\/h2>\n

          Yes that is his name.\u00a0 A history of the interminable gang warfare between the Stewarts and the Gordons and the intrigues of Mary Queen of Scots.\u00a0 Here is the full range of Mafia killings, murders, greed and revenge\u2026Nicely told.<\/p>\n

          Caligula\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Divine Carnage<\/h2>\n

          Odd history of the very bad things of Caligula, Nero and Heliogabalus.<\/p>\n

          Written by bizarre people!\u00a0\u00a0 The sodomists guide to Rome.<\/p>\n

          Farewell My Lovely\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Chandler<\/h2>\n

          Second and most wonderful novel. A true classic.\u00a0 I became aware how well he wrote, how much he set the scene with poignant details of colour and smell and weather and texture of clothes, and cars and weatherbeaten houses with tiny details like a big radio set so that we see the scene very much as in a movie.\u00a0\u00a0 It is novel as movie building up to almost unbearable tension as he goes out alone to face a gambling boat.\u00a0\u00a0 The moral value of the self effacing hero is what shines through the mess.\u00a0 The lone gunman is the lawman is the private detective, the final moral arbiter in a city of corrupt cops, mayors and gambler where the weak are preyed on and the foolish deceived.<\/p>\n

          Ignorance\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Milan Kundera<\/h2>\n

          It is perhaps bliss in this disjointed and unsatisfactory novel.<\/p>\n

          The Last Lion\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Visions of Glory\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Manchester<\/h2>\n

          Part one of William Manchester\u2019s superb biography of Churchill, a man who led at least three full lives before the end of this first part.\u00a0\u00a0 There is the insecure and ignored boy who matures into the young dashing Churchill, the hero of Africa, who boldly escapes from the Boers.\u00a0 There is the trench Churchill, the Naval Minister who conceives of the Dardanelles plan and is then held responsible for others inability to see it through, and there is the witty parliamentarian.\u00a0\u00a0 Superbly researched, consummately written and deservedly a classic.<\/p>\n

          Whatever\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michel Houellebecq<\/h2>\n

          Whatever indeed.\u00a0 He writes both easily and pretentiously.\u00a0 Best seller in France, tells you more about the French<\/p>\n

          Atomised\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Micel Houellebecq<\/h2>\n

          Begins unreadably and ends in porno.\u00a0\u00a0 The great French partouse –<\/p>\n

          Platform\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michel Houellebecq<\/h2>\n

          Highly eroticised novel by a French writer of his father\u2019s death and subsequent affair and the place of Islam in sexual tourism.\u00a0 Outspoken and frankly arousing.\u00a0\u00a0 I quite liked his third book.\u00a0 Very sexy.\u00a0 Quite contrived ending, but he has good strong hatreds, and he has been accused of racism.\u00a0 But his attack is on the radical puritanical Islamicists.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Bruno\u2019s Dream\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Iris Murdoch<\/h2>\n

          Old man, spiders, flood, drowning.<\/p>\n

          Gardener to the King\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Frederic Richaud<\/h2>\n

          An exquisite book.\u00a0 Pithy, wise and beautiful.\u00a0\u00a0 The gardener of Louis XIV<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Diaries of Kenneth Tynan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edited by John Lahr<\/h2>\n

          Intimate thoughts of an ex-critic and dramaturg.\u00a0 Enlivened by his honesty about sexual matters and his spanking mistress.\u00a0 Ken Tynan emerges as something of a snob and an egotist.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          July- August<\/h1>\n

          Any Human Heart\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd<\/h2>\n

          As usual I really loved this latest form the prolific Boyd.\u00a0 He seems to write so intimately, so honestly and so much!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is a brilliant idea \u2013 the diaries of one Logan Mountstuart, who lives to a ripe old age, through most of the 20th<\/sup> century \u2013 indeed the book is almost several books, so many lives does Logan lead,\u00a0\u00a0 all fascinating, and all interesting.\u00a0 From a gawky schoolboy, through Oxford, disappointments in love, bad first marriage, tragedy in war, even the sixties art scene in New York, Logan is Everyman is everywhere \u2013 and thank God for it.\u00a0 I really enjoyed the whole thing. A definite must read.<\/p>\n

          The Map That Changed The World\u00a0\u00a0 Simon Winchester<\/h2>\n

          Fascinating story of William Smith \u2013 whose dogged persistence, honesty and hard work, altered our knowledge of the planet and quite possibly prepared the way for Darwinism.\u00a0 Readable and informative.<\/p>\n

          J.M.Coetzee\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Youth<\/h2>\n

          A study of failure.\u00a0 A bright student seizes up in the UK on arrival from South Africa.<\/p>\n

          The Cutting Room\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Louise Welsh<\/h2>\n

          A breathtaking novel, about a gay book dealer who stumbles across a snuff photo with which he becomes obsessed.\u00a0\u00a0 A brilliant debut with extraordinarily fine prose.<\/p>\n

          Nero and the Burning of Rome\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tacitus<\/h2>\n

          Just an extract but mouth-watering stuff\u2026<\/p>\n

          The Blue Flower\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penelope Fitzgerald.<\/h2>\n

          An odd historical novel.\u00a0\u00a0 Not bad, not unforgettable.<\/p>\n

          The Theory of Everything\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen W. Hawking<\/h2>\n

          At last a book of his you can read.\u00a0 Almost entirely understandable.\u00a0 Probably because it\u2019s made from seven lectures.<\/p>\n

          Human Voices\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penelope Fitzgerald.<\/h2>\n

          A great short book, about the BBC and people who work there in wartime.\u00a0\u00a0 The minutiae of human behaviour, romantic and ironic.<\/p>\n

          The Mandelbaum Gate\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          Didn\u2019t get all the way.\u00a0 Not my favourite Spark.\u00a0 Set in Jerusalem on the border (as it then was) with Jordan.<\/p>\n

          Notes on Journalism\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lillian Ross<\/h2>\n

          Interesting enough, but still only journalism.\u00a0 Her insistence on writing only about people she likes perhaps over-influences her to like the people she is writing about so that we don\u2019t see what we should, or is that just the new journalism?<\/p>\n

          Elegy for Iris\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Bayley<\/h2>\n

          A lovely and understanding book, and as elegiac as it suggests, about the approach of Alzheimer\u2019s in the amazing novelist Iris Murdoch.<\/p>\n

          The Reader\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bernhard Schlink<\/h2>\n

          A fascinating and brilliant novel.\u00a0\u00a0 An erotic youth memoir transmutes into a book about an elderly observer of a Nazi camp failing to adequately defend herself in a war crime trial in the most unexpected way.\u00a0 Illiteracy becomes the subject.\u00a0 Highly satisfactory well considered novel.<\/p>\n

          Innocence\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penelope Fitzgerald.<\/h2>\n

          Italian story.\u00a0 DNF.<\/p>\n

          The Stars Tennis Balls\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Fry<\/h2>\n

          Revengers comedy.\u00a0\u00a0 Ideal summer hammock read.<\/p>\n

          The Middle Passage\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 V.S.Naipaul<\/h2>\n

          Great on action, long on comment.\u00a0 The opening is exquisite, a somewhat snobby Trinidadian ex-patriot revisiting his homeland on an immigrant ship.\u00a0 Observation of his fellow passengers is acute and delightful but as soon as he gets ashore his pontificating becomes tiresome.<\/p>\n

          The Metaphysical Club\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Louis Menand<\/h2>\n

          Staggering achievement, a history of ideas in America from abolitionism to Darwinism.\u00a0 Oliver Wendell Holmes, William James, Charles Pierce, Azziz and John Dewey, character study as history.\u00a0 Brilliant.<\/p>\n

          Mrs Ames\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E. F. Benson<\/h2>\n

          The wicked pen of the quondam mayor of Rye, exposes flirtation and adultery in Riseholme, 12 years before Mapp and Lucia.<\/p>\n

          Balzac\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 V.S.Pritchett<\/h2>\n

          Somewhat prosaic biography of the celebrated prose writer.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          May \u2013 June<\/h1>\n

          Watch Your Mouth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel Handler<\/h2>\n

          An odd opera of a novel about a golem and incest and \u2013 but he is a very good and interesting writer.<\/p>\n

          The Waning of the Middle Ages\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Johan Huizinga<\/h2>\n

          A classic book on the shift of sensibilities between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.<\/p>\n

          War Music\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Logue<\/h2>\n

          A re-reading of this great modern poetic classic.\u00a0 Not a translation but a brilliant re-interpretation of Homer.<\/p>\n

          The Perfect Heresy<\/h2>\n

          The best book about the Cathars.\u00a0\u00a0 A wonderful history magnificently told, a great read about the horrible Simon de Montfort and the pogroms instituted by the Catholics against their fellow French in the South West of France.\u00a0 It took 150 years to suppress this kindly gentle version of Christianity.\u00a0 One ought to remember that the RC Church\u2019s survival is no accident and has entailed mass murder and evil throughout its history.<\/p>\n

          History of the Peloponnesian War\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thucydides<\/h2>\n

          Dipped<\/p>\n

          Nigger\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Randall Kennedy<\/h2>\n

          Essays about the N word by an African American law student.<\/p>\n

          The Name of the World\u00a0\u00a0 Denis Johnson<\/h2>\n

          Harp\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Gregory Dunne<\/h2>\n

          Memoirs<\/p>\n

          In the Wake of the Plague\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Norman F Cantor<\/h2>\n

          The Devil\u2019s Mode\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Burgess<\/h2>\n

          Henry Esmond\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thackeray<\/h2>\n

          Long Catholic novel\u2026.\u00a0\u00a0 Really stirring start<\/p>\n

          Vampire Lesbians of Sodom\u00a0\u00a0 Charles Busch<\/h2>\n

          Funny plays<\/p>\n

          The Age of Catherine de Medici\u00a0 J.E. Neale<\/h2>\n

          Simple short history<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          March \u2013 April<\/h1>\n

          Something to Declare\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Barnes<\/h2>\n

          Essays.\u00a0\u00a0 Good ones on the Tour de France and Brassens but way too many on \u2013of course \u2013 Flaubert.<\/p>\n

          A Way of Life, Like Any Other\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Darcy O\u2019Brien<\/h2>\n

          An immaculate beautifully written book of childhood memoirs of a boy who grew up in Hollywood, with his father a star of Westerns and his mother a screen goddess.\u00a0 A fine, ironically observed brilliant book.\u00a0\u00a0 A must read.<\/p>\n

          About a Boy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nick Hornby<\/h2>\n

          I liked it less well than others have.\u00a0 I guess I find North London stories depressing.\u00a0 The movie will be better I suspect.<\/p>\n

          The Big Sleep\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Raymond Chandler<\/h2>\n

          Stands up to re-reading.\u00a0\u00a0 Struck by his use of colors.\u00a0 Characters are identified by them.\u00a0 The Rainy LA weather.\u00a0 It starts fine with his laconic prose and builds constantly.\u00a0 Masterful.<\/p>\n

          Salt\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mark Kurlansky<\/h2>\n

          After Fish comes the Salt.\u00a0\u00a0 But you can have too much of a good thing, fascinating though the early tales of the salt trade are.<\/p>\n

          The Flaneur\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edmund White<\/h2>\n

          A delightful stroll through Paris that makes you immediately want to go to that fabulous city.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          January and February<\/h1>\n

          The Flaneur\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edmund White<\/h2>\n

          A highly readable short stroll through Paris, that immediately makes you want to go there.<\/p>\n

          The Beast God Forgot to Invent\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jim Harrison<\/h2>\n

          I can\u2019t seem to get into him anymore.\u00a0\u00a0 What is it?\u00a0\u00a0 He used to be so good.<\/p>\n

          The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brady Udall<\/h2>\n

          And I enjoyed this too about an Indian boy who gets run over by a Mailman, though I confess I didn\u2019t finish it \u2013 but more my fault than his.<\/p>\n

          The English\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeremy Paxman<\/h2>\n

          This I did finish and enjoyed.\u00a0 A most interesting discussion of the nature of these people and who and how they are and got to be so.<\/p>\n

          I\u2019ll Let You Go\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bruce Wagner<\/h2>\n

          Oh dear, I did so want it to be good.\u00a0 But Bruce is so busy showing you what a great writer of sentences he is that he forgets we read by scenes, and he is constantly interrupting the flow of his narrative to prove just how clever he is.\u00a0 So you can never get into anything,\u00a0 You are jogged out of every scene.\u00a0 It\u2019s unreadable.\u00a0 And highly favourably reviewed!!\u00a0 Odd.<\/p>\n

          The Island of Dr Moreau\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 H. G. Wells<\/h2>\n

          I never really liked this, and I never finished it this time either.<\/p>\n

          The Bell\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Iris Murdoch<\/h2>\n

          I thought this became predictable and I sort of lost interest.<\/p>\n

          The Bulgari Connection\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fay Weldon<\/h2>\n

          Light, bright reading \u2013 falls away at the end as so many of her books do.\u00a0 She doesn\u2019t quite have the persistence to be Muriel Spark.\u00a0 About the painter and ex-wives and irritating women in the media.\u00a0\u00a0 Enjoyable.<\/p>\n

          On Politics and the Art of Acting\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Arthur Miller<\/h2>\n

          An excellent essay about both actors and politicians.<\/p>\n

          Symposium\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          About a dinner party and the people who prey on them.\u00a0 Light and funny and carefully plotted.<\/p>\n

          The Long Firm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jake Arnott<\/h2>\n

          Definite book of the year candidate.\u00a0\u00a0 Effortlessly written, a brilliant gangland tale which powerful evokes the London of the early sixties with all the Rachmans and the Krays and the Mandy Rice Davies figures carefully and semi-fictitiously recreated, which, paradoxically, makes them even more real.\u00a0 I thought it was fabulous and long to re-read it.<\/p>\n

          He Kills Coppers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jake Arnott<\/h2>\n

          Of course I had to rush out and buy his next book, which is not quite so densely written, though still in the same sixties world of coppers and \u201cverbals\u201d \u2013 a retelling of the Harry Roberts saga, quite unusually sympathetic to all elements \u2013 coppers and the bad ones.<\/p>\n

          America The Beautiful\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Moon Unit Zappa<\/h2>\n

          And how clever of her to have written this \u2013 though I did get a bit tired of the girl whiny tone after a while.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m sure it\u2019s not pleasant to be dumped by boyfriends but it\u2019s not pleasant to read about either and in the end her suffering isn\u2019t all that funny.<\/p>\n

          Tishomingo Blues\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leaonard<\/h2>\n

          Of course a great read.\u00a0 Don\u2019t we take him for granted for this.\u00a0 About a professional diver in Florida, involved with a Civil War recreation group, which is being used as a cover for a murderous attempt to control a local drug scene.\u00a0 The shoot out is a Civil War OK corral.\u00a0\u00a0 I liked it a lot.<\/p>\n

          Nights at the Alexandra\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Trevor<\/h2>\n

          Elegant. Irish.\u00a0 Short.<\/p>\n

          The Only Problem\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          And a nice limited edition I found too.\u00a0\u00a0 A parable about the book of Job.\u00a0 A man studying The Book of Job living in France wishes only to be left alone, which in Spark\u2019s world is the cue for ex-wives to become terrorists, for police intrusions, for media demolitions and a thousand grievances, but al turns out OK as usual in her gently satirical world view.<\/p>\n

          The Book of Evidence\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Banville<\/h2>\n

          Scarey and intensely well written.\u00a0\u00a0 The casual murderous nature of an Irishman is brilliantly exposed in an ironical confessional memoir style, which is fabulously written and a joy to read, though the matter be very dark indeed.<\/p>\n

          Reality and Dreams\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          About a film director,\u00a0 as I wrote before in 2001.\u00a0 A story of a movie director, a stalker and a crane accident.\u00a0 Funny and short.<\/em><\/p>\n

          March<\/h1>\n

          Warrior Politics\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert D. Kaplan<\/h2>\n

          An elegant book, political essay, historically based, relating to the nature of politics in a world of different kinds of society.\u00a0 Very interesting on Machiavelli, on Kant on Hobbes and Malthus and Churchill.\u00a0\u00a0 About the nature of leadership and the sentimental dangers of the media.\u00a0\u00a0 I could easily re-read it soon.<\/p>\n

          Testaments Betrayed\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Milan Kundera<\/h2>\n

          One of the most pleasant discussions to re-read \u2013 combining his love of musical form and the highest form of novel.\u00a0 I love his appreciation that parts of the world are not in The Modern Era \u2013 which is the age of the individual.\u00a0\u00a0 Filled with excellent and wise perceptions and a great hatred for superficial criticism and subjective biography, which attempts to make literature nothing more than failed attempts at autobiography.\u00a0 Three cheers for Kundera.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/u>2001<\/u><\/p>\n

          Fall and Winter<\/h1>\n

          The Family\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mario Puzo (completed by Carol Gino)<\/h2>\n

          The sting is in the tail.\u00a0 How much was Puzo?\u00a0 This quickly descends into the school of bad historical writing.\u00a0 Disappointing and despite the subject being the Borgias it fails to come alive.<\/p>\n

          Paris Trance\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Geoff Dyer<\/h2>\n

          Another interesting novel from the very readable Geoff Dyer.\u00a0 This one mimics Women in Love, two males in love with two girls in Paris, one male fails the test and goes off to live in London.\u00a0 One scene of sodomy from Lady Chatterley and several quotes from Hemmingway, but still many fine scenes of first love and first time in Paris of exiles.<\/p>\n

          The Diving Bell & the Butterfly\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jean Dominique Bauby<\/h2>\n

          Best seller, about paralysed man dictated by his eyelid.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Life as a vegetable.<\/p>\n

          Tender is the Night\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald<\/h2>\n

          Well having stayed at the hotel in Juan Les Pins one could hardly not, but again I found this the least engrossing of his novels.\u00a0\u00a0 (I change my mind the next time I read it.\u00a0 I wonder which version this was.)<\/p>\n

          Wittgenstein\u2019s Poker\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Edmonds & John Eidinow<\/h2>\n

          The legendary dispute with Karl Popper in a room in Kings, where a poker was or was not used to threaten and make a point or not about visiting lecturers.\u00a0\u00a0 Starts off gripping but turns into a book.\u00a0 Perhaps we should know which of these two is a writer.<\/p>\n

          Prince of the Clouds\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gianni Riotta<\/h2>\n

          I enjoyed this Italian novel, about a military historian who finally gets to fight a battle, in a peasants revolt against landowners in Sicily \u2013 all the historical battles are revisited most interestingly \u2013 the good and the young die as they must, but won\u2019t when the film comes out.\u00a0\u00a0 Good book.<\/p>\n

          Half a Life\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 V. S. Naipaul<\/h2>\n

          And half a book.\u00a0 Sadly not involving. Fulfilling the odd fact for the Nobelist that you get awards as your powers fail\u2026\u00a0 I liked the early English bit then it skipped unaccountably twenty years to Africa and for me began to fall apart.<\/p>\n

          Atonement\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian McEwan<\/h2>\n

          And this is the result of prizes.\u00a0\u00a0 The most disappointing book of the year.\u00a0 Pretentious and I\u2019m afraid, uninteresting.\u00a0 I felt he was impersonating Iris Murdoch.<\/p>\n

          Reality and Dreams\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          A story of a movie director, a stalker and a crane accident.\u00a0 Funny and short.<\/p>\n

          Dusklands\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J. M. Coetzee<\/h2>\n

          A story of an boorish Boer ancestor with an unconcern for killing kaffirs.\u00a0 I preferred the first part set in Vietnam.<\/p>\n

          Nightwood\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Djuna Barbes<\/h2>\n

          Didn\u2019t get far in this dike classic.<\/p>\n

          Embers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sandor Marai<\/h2>\n

          An old man waits in a castle to face his old friend and\u00a0 rival at the end of his life, to reveal what happened to his wife and this lover, to learn of his betrayal.<\/p>\n

          Something Special\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Iris Murdoch<\/h2>\n

          A very short illustrated Irish tale.<\/p>\n

          The Right Hand of Sleep\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Wray<\/h2>\n

          Recommended by my friend Carey Harrison.\u00a0\u00a0 A fine and powerful novel set in Austria about Nazism arriving in Austria.\u00a0 Beautifully written. Truly great.<\/p>\n

          Territorial Rights\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          Betrayal in Venice.\u00a0 Comedy of betrayal.\u00a0 Very funny.<\/p>\n

          The Stan Cullis Blues\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Hall<\/h2>\n

          A book of poems.\u00a0 My heart leaped with joy to read the title of these poems by a fellow fifties Wolves lover one poem of which includes the entire Wolves 57-58 team \u2013 Finlayson, Stuart, Harris, Slater, Wright, Flowers, Deeley, Broadbent, Murray, Mason, Mullen.\u00a0 Found in a bookshop in Bath, which I later used for my novel.<\/p>\n

          Now We Are Sixty\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Matthew<\/h2>\n

          Funny idea which does not fill the book.\u00a0 Like a great idea for one poem.<\/p>\n

          <\/h1>\n

          Summer Reading<\/h1>\n

          Provence, St. Petersburg, and UK.<\/em><\/p>\n

          Football against the enemy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Simon Kuper<\/h2>\n

          Gift from Jim.\u00a0\u00a0 As the great legendary Liverpool Manager said \u201cSome people think football is a matter of life and death, but it\u2019s much more important than that.\u201d\u00a0 Excellent scenes from football\u2019s wars and rivalries, plus the revelation that Argentina bought the World Cup in 78.\u00a0 The World Coup actually since the Generals seized power in \u201976.\u00a0 Don\u2019t ever underestimate the importance of World Games to fascist or communist governments\u2026.<\/p>\n

          The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Makepeace Thackeray<\/h2>\n

          Didn\u2019t get too far.\u00a0 Think I preferred the movie!\u00a0\u00a0 Oops\u2026<\/p>\n

          Cranford\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mrs Gaskill<\/h2>\n

          I found a rather pretty edition in a bookshop in Ballater which I paid altogether too much for.\u00a0 Illustrated, and this edition 1898. (First edition 1891)<\/p>\n

          Dawkins and the Selfish Gene\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ed Sexton<\/h2>\n

          A brief encounter with the facts of what Dawkins actually said in The Selfish Gene<\/strong> about the nature of evolution and the role or existence of God, as opposed to the bad mouthing he received from the religiously impelled crowd of detractors.<\/p>\n

          Red, White and Blue\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Gregory Dunne<\/h2>\n

          A vastly enjoyable book, written with tremendous energy and verve.\u00a0 The characters are vital and credible, from the all-too believable defence lawyer Leah (very Leslie Abramson) to Bro, the trendy Catholic Priest close to the president.\u00a0\u00a0 It began to sag a little and then recovered and ended strongly.\u00a0\u00a0 A surprisingly great achievement, published in 1987.<\/p>\n

          The Way of the World\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Fromkin<\/h2>\n

          Just about everything you ever needed to know about the Universe, and the evolution of life and the history of mankind.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 From chimp to human in six million years. Astounding and succinct and eminently portable complete reference \u2013 fabulous.<\/p>\n

          Browns Requiem\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Ellroy<\/h2>\n

          He doesn\u2019t convince me, it reads like a pastiche of Chandler.\u00a0\u00a0 Everything seems borrowed, the PI bitter ex-detective who likes classical music, it sounds stolen and his dialogue sounds stilted.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s a pity but it\u2019s like screen writing \u2013 you feel it\u2019s been done.<\/p>\n

          Shakespeare\u2019s Kings\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Julius Norwich<\/h2>\n

          Fascinating history and well written history interspersed with brief discussions of the History plays from an historical perspective and a discussion as to how and why Shakespeare departed from the literal truth of history for dramatic necessity and to telescope events into two hours.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The most fascinating period of Kings, following the murder of Edward 11, including the Hundred Years War and the War of the Roses, culminating with the ultimate pathological king, the terrifying Richard, which no amount of revisionists can exculpate from his crimes, murdering two Kings, (Henry V1 and Edward V)\u00a0 a brother and possibly a wife.\u00a0\u00a0 Mercifully he didn\u2019t last long before ending up in a car park in Leicester.<\/p>\n

          An Unfortunate Woman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Brautigan<\/h2>\n

          Part travelogue, part diary, part good. \u00a0But then again easily forgettable.<\/p>\n

          Louis and Antoinette\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Vincent Cronin<\/h2>\n

          He is a bit dry but the story is exciting.\u00a0 From the affair of the diamonds to the end.<\/p>\n

          A Sentimental Education\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Flaubert<\/h2>\n

          A long and most interesting book.\u00a0 About half way through I became irritated by Moreau\u2019s passivity and ability to be taken in by the patently grasping people around him, but persisted and was glad.\u00a0 The writing is very fine.\u00a0 It is really a story of failure, told in hindsight and tinged with regret.\u00a0 Moreau never consummates his grand passion with Madame Arnoux, his best friend steals the young girl who is devoted to him and whom he would have successfully married had this been Dickens.\u00a0 But altogether it is more honest sexually and more true to life.\u00a0 Though perversely I feel this makes it slightly less of a great novel.\u00a0 The world of Paris and the bourgeoisie and the intellectuals in the turmoil around the 1848 revolution.\u00a0\u00a0 A world away from The Pickwick Papers.\u00a0 Some consummate description of things and nature.\u00a0 His painting of scenes is \u2013 well like a painter.\u00a0 Perhaps that is the difference.\u00a0 He is in the middle of the Parisian painting explosion and Dickens is really an actor, strong on drama and staged scenes.<\/p>\n

          Headlong\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Frayn<\/h2>\n

          Noted, because I am not sure I shall finish it, since I have already spotted the whole art thing has to be a scam.\u00a0\u00a0 I find Frayn too polite and Sunday-Timesy to be a real writer.\u00a0 He is pastel.\u00a0 I find it slightly phony in town.\u00a0 Hampsteady.<\/p>\n

          A Distant Mirror\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barbara Tuchman<\/h2>\n

          Picked up where I left off and the fascinating amazing, bloody, weird century continues.\u00a0 A different aspect of the Hundred Years War.\u00a0 I took up from Poitiers, the French disaster, and for everyone a calamity where a French King was captured.\u00a0 Interesting reading of the Jaquerie in May 1358,\u00a0 how it prefigures the French Revolution, the same instant callous slaughtering of a hated class, and the even more efficient putting down of such revolt.\u00a0\u00a0 She is such a good historian with such a fine overview and yet a telling eye for detail and a good sense of tale telling.\u00a0 Enguerrand de Coucy<\/p>\n

          A Severed Head\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Iris Murdoch<\/h2>\n

          A very fine novel.\u00a0 Deceptively simple, tautly written in a way which suggests menace throughout.\u00a0 The prose is exceptionally fine, but it is the plot which drives it forward.\u00a0\u00a0 You always want to know what is going to happen next.\u00a0 It is sudden, surprising and masterly.\u00a0 Or in this case mistressly.\u00a0 A dark tale of adultery betrayal, romance and control.<\/p>\n

          The Thirty Nine Steps\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Buchan<\/h2>\n

          A fine opening, so gripping, and yet everything good about the movie is not in this book, no memory man, no hero handcuffed to a girl, no girl, no Thirty Nine steps as a code name.\u00a0 Also many heavy anti-semitic references which while written in 1931 will look very sick and sad only ten years later.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          July 15th<\/h1>\n

          A Massive Swelling\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cintra Wilson<\/h2>\n

          The journalist as star.\u00a0 A massive moan, a whingeing rant of anger about everyone more famous or beautiful than her, written in a transparent UK tabloid style with too many adjectives and everything exaggerated, so any truth is subsumed in hysterical over-written purple rock journalistic prose, so you end up hoping something really nasty will happen to her.\u00a0 The female she-bitch journalist as diva.\u00a0 Yeuch.<\/p>\n

          The Defeat of The Spanish Armada\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Garrett Mattingly<\/h2>\n

          A sober and detailed treatment of the events leading up to the arrival of the massive Armada, harrowed by Drake and sent packing by God and the tempests, ending up with bitterness and defeat for the monastic monarch Philip of Spain and his madness.\u00a0 The most interesting part of the story is that of Henry 111 and his eventual murder of the uppity Duke of Guise and the whole French post-Bartholomew, Huguenot struggle.\u00a0\u00a0 I very much enjoyed the whole complicated tale, which defused the simplistic myths which have built up around this 1588 event.<\/p>\n

          Big Chief Elizabeth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Giles Milton<\/h2>\n

          And I very much enjoyed this more popular form of history in the easy writing and well told tale of Sir Walter Raleigh and his attempts to kick-start American colonisation.\u00a0\u00a0 I had not realised the significance of Roanoke island and how Drake saved the colonists.\u00a0 Also the Indians could not be further removed from the Disney view of the pleasant nature-loving innocents \u2013 women scraping the skin off their captives with scallop shells having set fire to their feet.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But Pocahontas and her brave act is still an amazing moment in history.\u00a0 Elizabeth plays everyone off, Raleigh against the incredibly vain, stupid Essex.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You can see the greed of the New World, and the dreams of money evolving.<\/p>\n

          Harry Potter and the Sorcerer\u2019s Stone\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 T. K. Rowling<\/h2>\n

          Amusing enough and I can\u2019t wait for the movie.\u00a0 But dare I suggest a little goes a long way.\u00a0 Lily loved it and went through all three books in three weeks.<\/p>\n

          The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon Esq\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0William Makepeace Thackeray<\/h2>\n

          I found this very disappointing and longed to see the movie again.\u00a0 Not a patch on Vanity Fair, which also I remember faded at the end.\u00a0 You\u2019re no Becky Sharp Barry.<\/p>\n

          The Comforters\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          One of the few disappointments for me, too arch, too clever (is it really a novel) and her first book.\u00a0 She will go on to much better and shorter stuff.<\/p>\n

          Loitering with Intent\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          Set in London in 1949 Fleur works in the literary world, attempted rip-offs, Sir Quentin steals her manuscript and life begins to imitate her novel.\u00a0 Amusing and well told and mischievous.\u00a0 She opens her books so well, you cannot resist them.<\/p>\n

          Out of Sheer Rage\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Geoff Dyer<\/h2>\n

          I really liked this book about a man failing to start writing a book about D. H. Lawrence.\u00a0 Funny and interesting observations in a very pleasant and deceptively elegant prose style.\u00a0 \u201cThe pavement was grey with cold, the sky was pavement grey\u2026.If the sky was supposed to serve as a conduit for light then it was no longer working.\u201d\u00a0 Plus great angry comedy \u201cThat is the hallmark of academic criticism: it kills everything it touches\u2026..Still I thought\u2026the general point stands: how can you know anything about literature if all you\u2019ve done is read books?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 A funny and honest talent.<\/p>\n

          Flush\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Virginia Woolf<\/h2>\n

          Nauseating.\u00a0 About Elizabeth Browning\u2019s dog.\u00a0\u00a0 Perfect.\u00a0 I was sent it for a movie.\u00a0 I almost threw up.\u00a0 This was her best seller.\u00a0 And serve her right.<\/p>\n

          <\/h2>\n

          June<\/h1>\n

          The Bachelors\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          Bang on form, observing the single men and their anxiety ridden shenanigans.<\/p>\n

          Closely Watched Trains\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bohumil Hrabal<\/h2>\n

          A beautifully written book (in translation anyway!) about a young Czech railway worker and his brave act of resistance, on the day he loses his virginity and his life.\u00a0 I always loved this movie.\u00a0\u00a0 And I really loved his other book How I served The King of England.<\/em><\/p>\n

          Fat City\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Leonard Gardner<\/h2>\n

          Good pulp, but a little too much blood,\u00a0 sweat and canvas in the boxing world for my taste.<\/p>\n

          Aiding and Abetting\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          An absolutely brilliant book, based on two Lord Lucan\u2019s in Paris, undergoing psycho-analysis, from an analysand who has herself escaped from an unpleasant and criminal past-life (faking stigmata!).\u00a0 The woman is pure genius and I found a first edition.<\/p>\n

          Silk\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alessandro Baricco<\/h2>\n

          A beautiful tale of a Frenchman who falls under the spell of a Japanese geisha \u2013 though he never touches her \u2013 and is finally rescued from his obsession by his wife \u2013 though this he does not discover until after her death.\u00a0 Simple, unusual and moving.<\/p>\n

          Provence\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lawrence Durrell<\/h2>\n

          Brilliant.\u00a0\u00a0 Historical view of Provence largely through Roman eyes, and the great defensive battle fought by Marius to save civilisation.\u00a0\u00a0 Also some mediaeval stuff though.\u00a0\u00a0 With his sense of place and history this is the sort of perfect book I could carry with me always.\u00a0\u00a0 I remember visiting his house in Nimes, when his brother Gerald was occupying it, and from there visiting the Pont Du Gard, surely the most awe-inspiring Roman building outside of the Colisseum.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          May<\/h1>\n

          The Quest for Graham Greene\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 W. J .West<\/h2>\n

          Continuing the Quest for the hidden man.\u00a0 A few new lights, mainly on his tax dodge scam.\u00a0 He and Philby seem to have balanced destinies \u2013 both believers in totalitarian doctrines, one Communism, one Catholicism.\u00a0 Both betrayers.\u00a0\u00a0 Greene is such a paradox, the Catholic serial adulterer, who can only find comfort with another man\u2019s wife, not his own.<\/p>\n

          The Trial of Henry Kissinger\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Hitchens<\/h2>\n

          Good on you Hitchens, you nail the bastard.\u00a0\u00a0 The facts and figures and lately released transcripts which show you what you knew all along that this Strangelove bastard was a right shite.<\/p>\n

          The Girls of Slender Means\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          Continuing my Muriel Spark revival binge.\u00a0 This one a slender tale of post-and wartime girls in a genteel hostel that is ultimately destroyed by the bomb in the garden.\u00a0 Sex and nylons and men.\u00a0 Funny Bayswater comedy \u2013 post-war young ladies making their way in London (in search of the Bachelors), delicate, humorous and explosive (literally)<\/p>\n

          Three Tales\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gustave Flaubert<\/h2>\n

          Simply beautiful, and very elegantly translated, a late masterpiece from the Bovary man.<\/p>\n

          Hotel Honolulu\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Theroux<\/h2>\n

          I liked this sprawling novel about a writer who retires to Hawaii and becomes a hotel manager for the owner Buddy.\u00a0 The intrigues and the various tales are more like interwoven short stories, but his characters are so alive and real that they leap off the page.\u00a0 I thought it flagged heavily about two thirds through and with good editing might have been much better, but still his prose and his style and his love of Hawaii and the exiles who live there are fabulous.<\/p>\n

          The Copenhagen Papers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Frayn and David Burke<\/h2>\n

          An odd, but short, true tale of the actor in the play Copenhagen, who hoodwinked the gullible Frayn into believing that some documents he forged were actually real wartime German mss. No satisfactory outcome.\u00a0 Like all practical jokes you wonder about the mental state of the perpetrator.\u00a0\u00a0 Controlling or what?\u2026.<\/p>\n

          Caesar\u2019s Invasion of Britain\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter Berresford Ellis<\/h2>\n

          I, sadly, had not realised that it was Claudius and not Caesar who successfully invaded the Brits.\u00a0\u00a0 Simple clear illustrated history.<\/p>\n

          Good as Gold\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Heller<\/h2>\n

          One of the funniest books ever.\u00a0 He is hilarious, had me laughing out loud.\u00a0\u00a0 He manages to skirt the line between the farcical and the tragic.\u00a0\u00a0 One minute we are in the real world of his nightmare father\u2019s tyranny over his extended family, and the next in the surreal world of Washington politics where Gold is constantly being abused for his Jewish roots and his desperate social climbing.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s the Reagan cabinet, but is suddenly topical again with Bush2.\u00a0 I just adored this book.\u00a0\u00a0 (First edition)<\/p>\n

          The Heart of The Matter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

          Such a gifted novelist.\u00a0 Too bad about the superstition.\u00a0\u00a0 Once again his characters agonize over truly silly choices.\u00a0 It is noticeable that the noble way his characters behave (i.e. Scobie commits suicide to benefit his unloved wife) is not the way Greene himself behaved.\u00a0 They are almost fantasies of his own riddled guilt.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It is such a waste.\u00a0 Almost perverse.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          April<\/h1>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Third Woman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ??<\/h2>\n

          Exploration of Graham Greene\u2019s affair with Caroline someone.\u00a0 The married woman and the affair which inspired The End of The Affair.<\/p>\n

          The End of the Affair\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

          If there is a sillier book than this then I don\u2019t know it.\u00a0\u00a0 It stars off as a completely masterful piece of work, the first 50 pages almost flawless.\u00a0 The self-depiction of a self-hating jealous lover and his feelings for the woman who has ended his affair.\u00a0 He is drawn to her husband Henry \u2013 at first a boring man but then he paints him as sympathetic and long suffering.\u00a0 Cruelly the narrator sets a private detective on to his wife to satisfy his own cravings.\u00a0\u00a0 But after about 80 pages comes the revelation.\u00a0\u00a0 She was not having an affair with another man at all: she was having an affair with God.\u00a0\u00a0 We get some drivel from her diary about the great You and then can you believe it she becomes a virtual saint, even working three miracles \u2013 saving Maurice\u2019s life, curing Parkis\u2019 boy and dying a tragic and noble death.\u00a0\u00a0 Greene is a fascinating fellow but if ever a good writer was spoiled by religion here it is.<\/p>\n

          World War 3.0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ken Auletta<\/h2>\n

          Microsoft and its enemies.\u00a0\u00a0 More than perhaps we need to know about the man Gates. Essentially journalism writ large \u2013 and fast.\u00a0\u00a0 Trial by trial.<\/p>\n

          The Driver\u2019s Seat\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark.<\/h2>\n

          You see there is some point in keeping a list.\u00a0 I was able to search and find I read this some time ago.\u00a0 In August of\u00a0 1994\u00a0 and this is what I wrote then.<\/p>\n

          A strange little tale about a woman looking to be murdered in a foreign city.\u00a0 She chooses her murderer.\u00a0 Odd.<\/p>\n

          A Far Cry From Kensington\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          Flawless.\u00a0\u00a0 A gem.\u00a0\u00a0 A masterpiece.\u00a0\u00a0 A delicate and most artfully constructed novel.\u00a0 Divine writing, divine creation.\u00a0 I absolutely adored it.\u00a0\u00a0 Best book I read this year.<\/p>\n

          A Game For the Living\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

          Another fine book from this excellent writer.\u00a0 Set in Mexico, Theodore the ex-patriot painter and Ramon share a lover Lelia, who is found murdered.\u00a0\u00a0 Ramon confesses but did he really do it?\u00a0\u00a0 Read on.<\/p>\n

          The Abbess of Crewe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          A fairly nutty novella about a high-tech nunnery and the antics of the Mother Superior.\u00a0 From the date I take it to be some kind of satire on the Nixon White House.\u00a0\u00a0 Quite amusingly drawn Nuns and some good gags.<\/p>\n

          The Clothes They Stood\u00a0 Up In\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alan Bennett<\/h2>\n

          I think they must be the Emperor\u2019s New Clothes.\u00a0\u00a0 Shamelessly affected and potty and dull in that snobby English way.\u00a0\u00a0 Everything one despises about Sunday Times Literacy.\u00a0 Yikes.<\/p>\n

          Kepler\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Banville<\/h2>\n

          Another medieval biography from the pen of Banville.\u00a0 I must confess I got a little bored and ducked out half way.<\/p>\n

          The Public Image\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          I liked this short tale, set in Rome, about a film star and her husband who commits suicide to revenge himself on her Public Image (her PR).\u00a0 It is refreshingly honest about movie people and doesn\u2019t dump on the actress indeed leaves her a clever coup de grace.<\/p>\n

          Rides of The Midway\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lee Durkee<\/h2>\n

          A very fine first novel indeed.\u00a0\u00a0 Powerful and unique.\u00a0 This book will travel. Small town Mississippi teenagers staggering towards grace.\u00a0 Great.<\/p>\n

          Omerta\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mario Puzo<\/h2>\n

          Astorre Viola and the Apriles \u2013 mob stuff.<\/p>\n

          The World of Rome\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Grant<\/h2>\n

          The History of the Roman Empire from 133BC to AD 217.<\/p>\n

          Good, readable, concise, fascinating.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A brief history then fascinating discursive chapters on Architecture and Beliefs etc etc.<\/p>\n

          I Claudius\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rupert Graves<\/h2>\n

          The mother-load as far as historical novels go.\u00a0\u00a0 Utterly readable, compelling, completely thrilling and justifiably a classic.<\/p>\n

          Claudius The God\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rupert Graves<\/h2>\n

          But I could never get into the sequel\u2026.<\/p>\n

          January – March<\/h1>\n

          The Sun Also Rises\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ernest Hemmingway<\/h2>\n

          Jake \u2013 has a war wound which means he cannot physically love the English aristocratic alcoholic Brett (Lady Ashley) \u2013 who loves the unsuitably semitic Cohn \u2013 and the drunken Mike.\u00a0 A kind of weird parody of Lady Chatterley \u2013 but he writes immensely readable prose \u2013 especially the opening in Paris \u2013 and his descriptive passages of landscape, and activities, such as fishing and bullfighting, or just simply train riding\u00a0 \u2013 are unsurpassed.\u00a0 The detail and the delicacy of his prose is incredible.<\/p>\n

          Unweaving the Rainbow\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Dawkins<\/h2>\n

          More fascinating thoughts on science.<\/p>\n

          Rhode Island Blue\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fay Weldon<\/h2>\n

          Normally yes.\u00a0 This one abandoned.<\/p>\n

          Show and Tell\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Lahr<\/h2>\n

          Wonderful profiles by the master of Showbiz profiles \u2013 particularly fond of the ones on Mike Nichols and Eddie Izzard.<\/p>\n

          The Constant Gardner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carre<\/h2>\n

          I abandoned this when I neither believed in nor cared about the characters and whatever they were up to\u2026.<\/p>\n

          The Untouchable\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Banville<\/h2>\n

          One of the most compelling and finely written novels I have ever read.\u00a0 A thinly disguised novel of The Cambridge conspirators \u2013 this is largely the tale of Sir Anthony Blunt, sympathetically related in its historical content, with Philby, Maclean and the strange role of Graham Greene.\u00a0\u00a0 A must read and a contender for my book of the year.<\/p>\n

          The Newton Letter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Banville<\/h2>\n

          I liked this. He is essentially a poet writing novels.\u00a0 His prose has a striking, visual, originality –\u00a0 \u201cFrom the train I looked at the shy back-end of things, drainpipes and broken windows, straggling gardens with their chorus lines of laundry, a man bending to a spade.\u00a0 Out on Killiney bay a white sail was tilted at an angle to the world, a white cloud was slowly cruising the horizon.\u201d\u00a0 Fresh, original and good.<\/p>\n

          Doctor Copernicus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Banville<\/h2>\n

          His fascination with historical figures is also interesting.\u00a0 Here in a very fine historical novel we feel the world turning as the heliocentric universe is cautiously explored, at the risk of death.<\/p>\n

          Eclipse\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Banville<\/h2>\n

          However his latest I did not get into.\u00a0 Something about the actor suffering from a nervous breakdown, wishing to leave wife and daughter and live in his mother\u2019s old house \u2013 well perhaps not exactly my choice\u2026 but it was too slowly paced and lacked the intimacy of his previous.\u00a0\u00a0 I may be missing something here.<\/p>\n

          Caesar\u2019s Invasion of Britain\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter Berresford Ellis<\/h2>\n

          Or rather his failed invasion and then return.\u00a0\u00a0 Simple history simply told.<\/p>\n

          Edith\u2019s Diary\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

          A slightly different Highsmith, with a strange central character whose husband deserts her, whose child is completely useless, and whose fantasy world denies all this in her diary.\u00a0 The onset of madness in the ordinary world.\u00a0 How people lose their grip is movingly and utterly believably constructed.<\/p>\n

          Juggling the Stars\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tim Parks.<\/h2>\n

          I\u2019m not mad about Tim Parks.\u00a0 I always think I\u2019m going to really like it, then I find myself losing interest.\u00a0 This about a penurious language teacher in Italy who kidnaps a wealthy student daughter.<\/p>\n

          The Tenth Man\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

          Unfinished pieces, ideas for movies that never made it.\u00a0\u00a0 Writing for Hollywood.\u00a0 Not a patch on Third Man or Rocking Horse Winner.<\/p>\n

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          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/u>2000<\/u><\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          September \u2013 December<\/h1>\n

          The Cry of The Owl\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

          My book of the year.\u00a0\u00a0 An extraordinary novel which takes a voyeur who falls in love with a young woman and makes him the victim of her boyfriend\u2019s violence so that we utterly want him to succeed in his love for her.\u00a0 A quite extraordinarily fine novel.<\/p>\n

          Those who walk away\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

          Another great novel, this one set in Venice and the Lido with the recently bereaved Ray, pursued by his vengeful murderous father-in-law.\u00a0 Again she has that wonderful relationship between victim and aggressor.\u00a0 The opening of this novel is quite spectacular as she lets you in on the characters behind the action, her control is masterful, she starts like cinema but this is much deeper, and she has an ability to switch viewpoint effortlessly so you get inside the heads of her characters and feel their thoughts and how trapped they are.<\/p>\n

          Mistress Anne\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carolly Erickson<\/h2>\n

          The sad and touching tale of the silly woman who bewitched Henry V111 only to lose his love.\u00a0 The mother of Queen Elizabeth, who was to learn so much about the ways of men from her mother\u2019s end.\u00a0\u00a0 Carolly Erickson is more readable though less scholarly than Alison Weir and a perfect writer of popular history.<\/p>\n

          The Two Faces of January.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

          Fascinating and unpredictable as ever this is set in Greece and features Rydal who relentlessly pursues the murderous Chester as far as Paris.\u00a0 This unspecified pursuit to be near someone with a shared violence is a theme of Highsmith\u2019s and is as good and as gripping here as anywhere else.<\/p>\n

          The Princes in the Tower\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alison Weir<\/h2>\n

          Amongst her best and most readable histories \u2013 this one is really about the murderous psychopath Richard 111 and his many evils, which in this case involved the murder of a legitimate King, his nephew.<\/p>\n

          The Tremor Forgery\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

          Set in Tunisia, at many (to me) familiar locations, this reminds me of how well she writes location and how important it is in her novels, the precise feeling of place, streets, the ordinariness and sheer precise reality of her prose description which makes the violence seem both banal, random and utterly believable.\u00a0 You always feel that even her characters don\u2019t know what is coming next.\u00a0\u00a0 This one features the writer who may or may not have killed an Arab but who escapes the wrong woman.<\/p>\n

          All We Are Saying\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono<\/h2>\n

          Conducted by David Sheff, it says.\u00a0\u00a0 Oh dear, perhaps one of the worst things that can happen is people take down your words and publish them.\u00a0 The misunderstood thoughts of rock and roll.\u00a0 How they despise the very education they lack\u2026<\/p>\n

          Lennon Remembers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jann S. Wenner<\/h2>\n

          If only he forgot.\u00a0\u00a0 Angry and nasty.\u00a0 Nasty remembers only too well not to be nice about those who were beside him\u2026<\/p>\n

          The Road to San Giovanni\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Italo Calvino<\/h2>\n

          I remember nothing of this, not even where I stopped reading\u2026<\/p>\n

          Found in the Street\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

          This is the only Highsmith I didn\u2019t like.\u00a0 I hate stalkers and stalker books and couldn\u2019t bear to read on.\u00a0\u00a0 The man finds a wallet and returns it to a loony neighbour stalker of a young woman.<\/p>\n

          The House of Medici\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Hibbert<\/h2>\n

          Interesting history of the rise and fall of the Medici Family who ruled and built up Renaissance Florence, preserved it against the envy of other states and the many artists it supported and patronised by its wealth.\u00a0 Even winning the Papacy and providing the French with a an influential Queen.\u00a0 Exciting tales from the town that bred Machiavelli.<\/p>\n

          The Battle\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Overy<\/h2>\n

          Fine, pocket account of the Battle of Britain, where the few fought against the quite similar in number actually, and saved Britain from invasion in 1941.<\/p>\n

          The Six Wives of Henry VIII\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alison Weir<\/h2>\n

          And here they all are in their confusion, \u00a0married to the biggest pig in Christendom.\u00a0 Two of whom he murdered, one of whom really cuckolded him.\u00a0\u00a0 Great stuff.<\/p>\n

          Pagan Babies\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          Begins unusually in Africa with a questionable priest and a massacre and spills into more familiar Leonard territory back in Detroit, with fraud and mobsters.<\/p>\n

          Sweet Smell of Success\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ernest Lehman<\/h2>\n

          I really enjoyed these bitter sweet tales from Broadway and Hollywood.\u00a0 Noir stories from the decadent PR narrator, exposing the nastiness of comedians, the sleaziness of gossip and what people will do for fame.<\/p>\n

          Eleanor of Aquitaine\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alison Weir<\/h2>\n

          Less than gripping account of the twice married wife of Henry 2nd<\/sup>.\u00a0 The uniting of whom created the Plantagenet Empire \u2013 and a century of wars to come.<\/p>\n

          Son of the Morning Star\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evan S. Connell<\/h2>\n

          An account of the death and fabled life of Custer, the man who attacked an innocent village of Native Americans and thankfully was made to pay the penalty.\u00a0\u00a0 A man who had his eye on this gesture of massacre in order perhaps to sway a Convention, to be, yes, President.<\/p>\n

          Gilliam On Gilliam\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 edited by Ian Christie<\/h2>\n

          Interesting to know how little he thinks of one\u2026.Apologies by the enfant terrible for some of the terribly infantile stuff he was not really responsible for.<\/p>\n

          King of Paris\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Guy Endore<\/h2>\n

          A novel in the style of Alexander Dumas about the life of and loves of Alexander Dumas, novelist, duellist, and romanticist.<\/p>\n

          July- August<\/h1>\n

          American Rhapsody\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joe Esterhaz<\/h2>\n

          Joe Esterhaz is the American wet dream come true.\u00a0 He has gone from being a crap writer on Rock and Roll to a crap writer of movies.\u00a0\u00a0 Now he has written a crap paean of praise to himself.\u00a0 The ego has landed.\u00a0 Marginally musing about Clinton and Monica he reveals the great love affair between himself and his ego.\u00a0\u00a0 He too fucked Sharon Stone after he \u201ccreated\u201d her.\u00a0 But he never betrayed the country by \u201clying\u201d.\u00a0 Oh give us a break and crawl back to your wank-pit in Malibu.\u00a0\u00a0 Nobody cares.\u00a0 Rock and roll never mattered enough to write about and neither did you.\u00a0 Compelling as a car crash, a world in which Jann Wenner is King is not just the country of the blind, but the blind drunk.\u00a0\u00a0 Too bad they didn\u2019t get him for Vietnam.\u00a0 He is a waste of a good body bag.<\/p>\n

          Love, etc\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Barnes<\/h2>\n

          The slightly irritating structure of various voices revealing the rather nasty revenge of the slighted husband, and an interesting portrait of a friend who has grown slightly beyond his promise into a failure.\u00a0 (Dare we identify this with Barnes and Amis?)\u00a0\u00a0 Academic rather than compelling narrative structure fails to ignite.<\/p>\n

          The Godfather\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mario Puzo<\/h2>\n

          Great holiday reading.\u00a0\u00a0 He is really very good. Amazingly deceptive sentences, but great details and observations.\u00a0\u00a0 This is the history of the century through the Corleones and it is somehow appropriate that for once the films live up to a great book.<\/p>\n

          The Sicilian\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mario Puzo<\/h2>\n

          Kind of sideways sequel \u2013 like an insert between the two Godfather movies \u2013 what happened the day Michael Corleone left Sicily and the history of the great bandit Guiliano, finally betrayed by his best friend (and the Mafia) as he attempts to flee to America.\u00a0 In between about as much tension, character insight and contemporary post-war history of Italy as you could possibly wish.\u00a0\u00a0 He really writes broad contemporary historical novels.\u00a0 His breadth of understanding is outstanding.\u00a0\u00a0 Almost Tolstoyan, if more relevant to our times.\u00a0 I really like him.<\/p>\n

          Anna Karenina\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tolstoy<\/h2>\n

          My second failed attempt to get through this celebrated book!\u00a0\u00a0 I think at a certain point I find Count Vronsky to be a self-involved uninteresting vain dull man and I am not at all interested in their love affair.\u00a0\u00a0 I do not see what draws them together, except pure lust, and this, it seems to me, did not really become the subject of the novel until Lady Chatterley.\u00a0\u00a0 After Lady Chatterley there is no other subject. Very fine writing but alas I bailed again.\u00a0\u00a0 (I later, in 2012,\u00a0 change my mind encouraged by the brilliant Nabokov essay and his excoriation of this particular translation and recommendation of a finer.)<\/p>\n

          George 111\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Hibbert<\/h2>\n

          Fascinating and interesting account of a much maligned and rather tragic porfiria victim.\u00a0 Died the most popular of English Kings.\u00a0\u00a0 Such a long life.\u00a0\u00a0 So earnest and good intentioned and like Charles \u2013 who is his g.g.g.g.grandson.\u00a0 So muddleheaded and mistaken over his choice of ministers, so fortunate in having Pitt thrust on him.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A great age and a great time and a great tragedy, the painful indignity to slip three times from monarchy into madness.<\/p>\n

          Godel, Escher, Bach\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Douglas R. Hoftstadter<\/h2>\n

          A metaphysical fugue on minds and machines in the spirit of Lewis Carol.\u00a0 Too much math and too many faking tortoise and hare dialogues for my taste.<\/p>\n

          May \u2013 July<\/h1>\n

          The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman<\/h2>\n

          The shitty pants school of writing.<\/p>\n

          Ripley Under Water\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

          The fifth and sadly the last of the Ripleys which I have really enjoyed this year.\u00a0\u00a0 This is a detective story backwards.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You think you know who the killer is and you keep waiting for the murder to happen and hoping he will not be caught.\u00a0 Actually she contrives a brilliant solution to avoid your expectations\u2026<\/p>\n

          The Boy Who followed Ripley\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

          Since I read these with great pleasure over a few months I list them together.\u00a0\u00a0 This one is about the Ripley admirer boy who seeks out Ripley after killing his father, gets kidnapped in Berlin and returns to the US only to commit suicide.\u00a0 As usual it is the atmosphere and ordinariness of the character\u2019s lives in the little French village that gives complete authenticity to the sudden and surprising violence in their lives.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And of course how much we sympathise with Ripley who is able to look objectively at his violent past almost with regret.<\/p>\n

          Ripley\u2019s Game\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

          This is the one where he finally manages to eliminate a couple of Mafiosi \u2013 because he hates them.\u00a0 How much we enjoy Reeves Minot and his Hamburg world of small time crookery.\u00a0 A man called Jonathan is involved whom Ripley tries to aid almost because he dislikes him (Ripley).\u00a0 Someone says this is the Book of Job \u2013 Ripley plays God.<\/p>\n

          Ripley Under Ground\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

          In which we get the background to the Derwatt art fakes painted by Bernard who threatens to expose the fraud to an American collector, whom Tom eventually murders in the cellar, and is almost killed in turn by Bernard who eventually commits suicide in Switzerland, enabling Ripley to switch bodies. How I love Madame Annette and Heloise the rather sketchy wife.<\/p>\n

          The Big Bounce\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          By contrast and not to be bitchy I remember nothing about this plot.\u00a0\u00a0 I think it\u2019s because Leonard\u2019s books are more like movies \u2013 you are gripped by the plot mechanism and dragged along very happily but they do not resonate with life as we live and experience it.<\/p>\n

          The Children of Henry V111th\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alison Weir<\/h2>\n

          Brilliant history.\u00a0\u00a0 Illuminating and filled with characters.\u00a0\u00a0 Rarely has history been so alive.\u00a0\u00a0 You begin to understand all the characters and why they behaved in that way.\u00a0 The paranoia \u2013 oh boy.\u00a0\u00a0 I loved it.\u00a0\u00a0 The brilliant boy Edward VI and his tragic young death; how Mary became Queen over the silly puppet Lady Jane Grey, how she married Philip, her hysterical pregnancy and her manic Catholicism alienating the people and burning many who disagreed.\u00a0 Her near paranoid fears of Elizabeth and her timely death, leading the flirty Elizabeth to her virginal apotheosis.<\/p>\n

          The Life of Elizabeth 1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alison Weir<\/h2>\n

          And I really enjoyed its sequel.\u00a0\u00a0 She really brings Elizabeth to life.\u00a0 The fierce intelligence and yet the strange person she became.\u00a0 Her flirtatious brilliant handling of an all-male court.\u00a0 Her cleverness and her genuine genius at heading the nation and providing them with the impetus and the direction they needed.\u00a0 Above all a woman in charge so not all those testicular wars!\u00a0\u00a0 Her Volta dancing,\u00a0 lute playing, Greek reading, Latin speaking intellectual brilliance and at the end her constant fear of death.<\/p>\n

          William Shakespeare\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gary O\u2019Connor<\/h2>\n

          Reading the Elizabeth book reminded me so much of Shakespeare. The plots and twists of Essex, his depression, constantly suggested Shakespeare plays and I hadn\u2019t quite appreciated the correlation between the politics of the time and his plays \u2013 plus echoes of Henry\u2019s days and familiar popular history.\u00a0 Now comes this interesting life of Shakespeare by a stage director, which is enjoyable if somewhat speculative.\u00a0 Noticeable mostly for the discovered portrait of Shakespeare by Frans Hals.\u00a0 Certainly the most convincing portrait I have ever seen.<\/p>\n

          A Handful of Dust\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh<\/h2>\n

          A delightful novel with a dreadful end.\u00a0 I still hate the end.<\/p>\n

          The Loved One\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh<\/h2>\n

          A quick re-read of the classic novella.<\/p>\n

          Anil\u2019s Ghost\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Ondaatje<\/h2>\n

          Now this I found really disappointing.\u00a0 I\u2019m a big fan but I got very bored half way through this prolix and somewhat tiresome tale of Sri Lanka.\u00a0\u00a0 Here his technique of darting about the place made the book discursive rather than illuminating and his central female character just did not come to life at all.<\/p>\n

          The Comfort of Strangers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian McEwan<\/h2>\n

          Gripping.\u00a0\u00a0 Tale of sinister couple of murderous pair in Venice preying on British couple.\u00a0\u00a0 Thrilling and chilling.<\/p>\n

          That Great Lucifer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Margaret Irwin<\/h2>\n

          A wonderful portrait of Sir Walter Raleigh, almost a fan\u2019s view.\u00a0 She really adores him, but Sir Walter comes alive in this book until that bastard James cuts his head off.\u00a0\u00a0 Great history.\u00a0\u00a0 Started me off on a big 16th<\/sup> Century reading jag.<\/p>\n

          Up at the Villa\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 W. Somerset Maugham<\/h2>\n

          Now a movie.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019d avoid both\u2026<\/p>\n

          UFO\u2019s, JFK and Elvis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Belzer<\/h2>\n

          Amusing popular paranoia from the master of the sardonic.<\/p>\n

          Perfume\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patrick Suskind<\/h2>\n

          Many people told me but I always suspected I wouldn\u2019t like it and I didn\u2019t.\u00a0 The prose didn\u2019t grab me and I bailed early.\u00a0 I hate horror as a genre,<\/p>\n

          The Gold Coast\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nelson DeMille<\/h2>\n

          Again a popular best seller, but I gave up about half way through.\u00a0 Just didn\u2019t care enough.\u00a0 Like bad tv.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          March – April<\/h1>\n

          The Talented Mr. Ripley\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patricia Highsmith<\/h2>\n

          I loved this.\u00a0\u00a0 Had everything the movie lacked.\u00a0\u00a0 If we can only keep that silly director\u2019s hands off more good English writing.<\/p>\n

          Touch\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          Got a ways through before realising I had read it before.\u00a0 About the healer with power.\u00a0 Originally called Cat Chaser I find\u2026.<\/p>\n

          The Book Shop\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penelope Fitzgerald.<\/h2>\n

          A rather sad tale of loss as a middle aged lady attempts to open a bookshop in a kind of Tilling and loses to the snobbish all powerful bitch of the village.\u00a0\u00a0 Very well written but very English ending.\u00a0\u00a0 She loses everything.<\/p>\n

          A Working Girl Can\u2019t Win\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Deborah Garrison<\/h2>\n

          A fabulous collection of stunning poems.<\/p>\n

          Strip Tease\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carl Hiassen<\/h2>\n

          A rather longer version of Leonard \u2013 but not so great.\u00a0 He overwrites and wants to show us how to respond to his characters.\u00a0 Too much the journalist perhaps.\u00a0 But he has great tales and this was a good enough holiday read.<\/p>\n

          City of God\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E. L. Doctorow<\/h2>\n

          Fascinating and thoughtful book.\u00a0\u00a0 Which pretty much disposes of the arguments for God advancing cosmology and modern scientific thought and then inexplicably offers a solution of conversion to Judaism.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Did I miss something?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But I enjoyed the argument, and the excellent prose.<\/p>\n

          Mr Majestyk\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          Great Leonard about the melon grower and the personal vendetta with a casual hit-man.<\/p>\n

          The Great Mordecai Mystery\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kyril Bonfiglioli<\/h2>\n

          Last Mordecai novel from this master of the magical mystery and he is in great form.\u00a0 What wit, what disdain, what amusement.\u00a0\u00a0 Here finished by Craig Brown (though I\u2019m afraid I spotted the join).\u00a0\u00a0 Nevertheless we should be grateful that we had this joy.<\/p>\n

          All the Tea in China\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kyril Bonfiglioli<\/h2>\n

          Not so this one though.\u00a0 The rather laboured historical novel which has surprisingly familiar Dickens characters in it. \u00a0I left it in Mexico to find its own audience.<\/p>\n

          Which Lie did I tell?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Goldman<\/h2>\n

          I find him interesting and totally entertaining when in anecdotal mode and almost unreadable when he writes us screenplays to show us how it should be done.\u00a0\u00a0 Who gives a shit?\u00a0 Is there anything more unreadable than a screenplay? From its dull font to its endlessly abbreviated terms it is the exact opposite of reading.<\/p>\n

          The Hours\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Cunningham<\/h2>\n

          Crap.\u00a0\u00a0 And pretentious crap at that.\u00a0 Winner of a Pulitzer.\u00a0\u00a0 A story about Virginia Woolf.\u00a0\u00a0 Yuck.<\/p>\n

          Dombey and Son\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles Dickens<\/h2>\n

          I gave up where I did before \u2013 shortly after the death of young Paul.\u00a0\u00a0 For me the novel dies here and I can never finish it.<\/p>\n

          January thru February<\/h1>\n

          The Mordecai Trilogy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kyril Bonfiglioli<\/h2>\n

          Three Novels<\/p>\n

          Oh yes the best and the finest, the funniest and the most fabulous discovery.\u00a0\u00a0 Ronald Firbank meets Raymond Chandler.\u00a0\u00a0 Divine writing, hilarious description, gripping action.\u00a0 Everything and more.\u00a0 If there are three better books this year I will eat my wife\u2026.<\/p>\n

          Man and Superman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bernard Shaw<\/h2>\n

          What a prosy writer he is.\u00a0 Long and boring stage directions.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know, the acceptable face of Ibsen.\u00a0 Perhaps the best you could hope for from a critic \u2013 I like only Joan and Caesar and Cleo and My Fair.<\/p>\n

          Last Orders\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Swift<\/h2>\n

          Four pals burying a chum.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m not as wowed as some people have been with this Booker prize-winner,(1996)<\/p>\n

          Belling the Cat\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mordecai Richler<\/h2>\n

          Journalism and selected pieces which is OK but not his novels.<\/p>\n

          Lola\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Delacorta<\/h2>\n

          Very French.\u00a0\u00a0 Not very good.<\/p>\n

          My Movie Business\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Irving<\/h2>\n

          More interesting after I met him.\u00a0 A writer struggles to make a movie of his book.\u00a0\u00a0 Interesting ballsy guy.<\/p>\n

          Picture Palace\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Theroux<\/h2>\n

          About the American female photographer \u2013 really great start and then sort of tails off.\u00a0 But he is undeniably a good writer.<\/p>\n

          Creation\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gore Vidal<\/h2>\n

          Oh dear Gore.\u00a0 The best Essayist in the world but what a bore as a novelist.\u00a0\u00a0 Was very happy to have Salman Rushdie agree with me the other night!<\/p>\n

          King of Cannes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Walker<\/h2>\n

          Yes the usual \u2013 pushy drunk English boys attempting to expose the successful \u2013 waiting for Harvey.\u00a0\u00a0 Probably better as TV which it became.<\/p>\n

          Karka\u2019s Curse\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Achmat Dangor<\/h2>\n

          Didn\u2019t get far \u2013 sorry.<\/p>\n

          The Consul\u2019s File\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Theroux<\/h2>\n

          I absolutely loved this book.\u00a0 Beautifully connected short stories about an American consul amongst the ex-pats in Ayer Hitam. Funny, savage and dramatic.\u00a0 Modernised Maugham Malaysia,\u00a0 Really good.<\/p>\n

          Everybody Smokes in Hell\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Ridley<\/h2>\n

          Bang bang you\u2019re dead.\u00a0\u00a0 What the violent movies look like as a novel.\u00a0 I got bored frankly and didn\u2019t care about who survived who.<\/p>\n

          Guerrillas\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 V.S. Naipaul<\/h2>\n

          How far away they seem the Notting Hill Black radicals and their murderous return to Trinidad.<\/p>\n

          The Feathers of Death\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Simon Raven<\/h2>\n

          Early Raven.\u00a0 Lieutenant colonels and so on.\u00a0\u00a0 Gave up.<\/p>\n

          Greenmantle\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Buchan<\/h2>\n

          Gripping of its type.\u00a0\u00a0 Not the 39 steps though.<\/p>\n

          Napoleon 111\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Felton Bresler<\/h2>\n

          Big bountiful biography which I really enjoyed.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know much about Louis and it was a fascinating life from high to low to high and back.\u00a0\u00a0 Very well done history with lots of interesting anecdotes and great scenes.\u00a0\u00a0 An excellent book.<\/p>\n

          Big Women aka Big Girls Don\u2019t Cry\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fay Weldon<\/h2>\n

          Excellent Weldon \u2013 tracking the lives of four women from the end of the sixties to the present as they age marry and start feminist publishing houses.\u00a0 Very funny, very touching and very accurate.<\/p>\n

          Killshot\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          Think I read this before \u2013 guy who is part Indian who comes over the Canadian border to kill.<\/p>\n

          Barbary Shore\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Norman Mailer<\/h2>\n

          I found this disappointing this time and abandoned it.<\/p>\n

          Nelson\u2019s Women\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Pocock<\/h2>\n

          Fascinating look at the man through the women \u2013 and not just Emma or his wife \u2013 both well drawn \u2013 but the sisters and related family.\u00a0 Excellent.<\/p>\n

          Cowboys are my Weakness\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pam Houston<\/h2>\n

          Beautiful, lyrical wonderful honest short stories about woman and her endless puzzlement with man \u2013 here largely macho and hunting man. Most excellent writing.<\/p>\n

          Mondo Desperado\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patrick McCabe<\/h2>\n

          I find sadly he is not for me.\u00a0 Is it the Irish thing?<\/p>\n

          Popcorn\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ben Elton<\/h2>\n

          The book of the play I saw.\u00a0 His characters all conform to make his point. They have no lives of their own.\u00a0 Not people, but headlines.<\/p>\n

          Cat Chaser\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          I really liked this \u2013 but then again I have forgotten the plot \u2013 oh yes the man a divorced motel owner is in love with the wife of a Salvadoran ex-Police thug \u2013 and helps her escape him \u2013 also visiting his youth and the young woman who tried to kill him when he was on service.\u00a0 Gripping of course.<\/p>\n

          Jackie Brown\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 aka Rum Punch\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          The book of the prolix film.\u00a0 I still think there was a good movie somewhere here \u2013 in fact the change-over of the packages was better in the movie.\u00a0 It just needed savage editing.\u00a0 The book doesn\u2019t suffer from that.<\/p>\n

          The Museum Guard\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Howard Norman<\/h2>\n

          So so Canadian fiction kinda predictable.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/u>1999<\/u><\/p>\n

          This year let\u2019s do the months backwards please, to avoid all that scrolling down by December.<\/h3>\n

          November \u2013 December<\/h1>\n

          The Mangan Inheritance\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brian Moore<\/h2>\n

          A gripping novel.\u00a0\u00a0 He can really write excitingly though this reminded me somewhat of Robertson Davies, yet as soon as the story hits Ireland the plot and the tale telling is totally compelling.<\/p>\n

          Timeline\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Crichton<\/h2>\n

          His writing has been going steadily down hill since Jurassic Park 2.\u00a0 He began to write like bad screenplays.\u00a0 Now he writes like bad teleplays.\u00a0 Too bad because he has great talent as a story teller.\u00a0 I threw it away when the twelve year old boy turned out to be a twenty three year old girl.\u00a0 Written like studio notes.<\/p>\n

          Yes we have NO\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nik Cohn<\/h2>\n

          The real seedy England exposed.\u00a0 The flabby underbelly of soggy hippies and sad people with bloody attitudes.\u00a0 Very well observed.<\/p>\n

          In the Skin of a Lion\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Ondaatje<\/h2>\n

          Beautifully written, great tale about Toronto in the 20\u2019s and the building of the bridges by the immigrants who built the city.\u00a0 Fabulous.<\/p>\n

          Disgrace\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J .M. Coetzee<\/h2>\n

          Brilliant writing and deservedly the Booker winner \u2013 which I read before the announcement and thought it my book of the year.\u00a0 The disgrace of the father and the rape of the daughter, woven together in totally compelling way.<\/p>\n

          How Far From Austerlitz\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alistair Horne<\/h2>\n

          Napoleon\u2019s fall from the zenith of Austerlitz.\u00a0 Very fine, very readable history of the French mass murderer.<\/p>\n

          Sick Puppy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carl Hiaasen<\/h2>\n

          I was enjoying it and then I grew tired of the characters.\u00a0 And then I gave up.<\/p>\n

          Love and War\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Hewitt<\/h2>\n

          The strangely compelling tale of the twit who was used as a fuck buddy by the sainted Di.\u00a0\u00a0 She pulled him, she rode him, she dumped him.\u00a0 Ah Hello Magazine.\u00a0 I felt sorry for him, especially with the Mirror stealing his letters and then denouncing him!\u00a0 The shits, ah the tabloid shits.<\/p>\n

          Losing Nelson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barry Unsworth<\/h2>\n

          Very readable novel about an obsessive Nelsonite \u2013 until he cracks.<\/p>\n

          The Sun King\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Ignatius<\/h2>\n

          I apparently read this, or some of it, recently, but it all escapes me\u2026<\/p>\n

          Double Indemnity\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James M. Cain<\/h2>\n

          Quite like the movie.<\/p>\n

          Dream Story\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Arthur Schnitzler<\/h2>\n

          More erotic than the movie, and more credible.\u00a0 The Jewish dimension adds the sinister element to Austrian life which is entirely missing in Kubrick\u2019s version.\u00a0 Why would a Jewish writer and director remove the underlying anti-semitism of this story?<\/p>\n

          The Mighty Walzer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Howard Jacobson<\/h2>\n

          I really loved this tale of the Manchester ping pong players.\u00a0\u00a0 Very true and real and funny.\u00a0 I like him a lot.<\/p>\n

          For Love or Money\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alex Fynn & Lynton Guest<\/h2>\n

          Journalism really, about Man Utd and England and money.<\/p>\n

          The Dark Room at Longwood\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jean-Paul Kauffman<\/h2>\n

          A sentimental Frenchman returns to Saint Helena to understand the sadness and loneliness of the demented mass murderer who was allowed to live there, unlike all his millions of victims.\u00a0 How bloodily sentimental the French are about their revolution and their emperor.\u00a0\u00a0 Of course the English are to blame for everything\u2026..\u00a0 thank God.<\/p>\n

          In Hell before Daylight\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian Fletcher<\/h2>\n

          Wellington\u2019s bloodiest victory \u2013 and mighty gruesome it was too \u2013 the tale of the siege and storming of the fortress of Badajoz, 1812 which was to lead to waterloo \u2013 and a reminder that both sides Generals cost a great deal in lives.<\/p>\n

          Reality Check\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brad Wieners and David Pescovitz<\/h2>\n

          What happens in the real future.\u00a0 Inventions etc.<\/p>\n

          A Star Called Henry\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Roddy Doyle<\/h2>\n

          Despite meeting him, and him signing the book I don\u2019t really get it.\u00a0\u00a0 A bit too jovial for me.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          September \u2013 October<\/h1>\n

          The Way we Were\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dominic Dunne<\/h2>\n

          Very disappointing \u2013 name dropping of the rich and dull.\u00a0 Plus even less interesting photos.<\/p>\n

          The Sweet Smell of Psychosis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Will Self<\/h2>\n

          Nicely written but the usual postmodern hero \u2013 drinking and snorting his way to oblivion in the Amis \u2013 Easton Ellis \u2013 ex world of the eighties.<\/p>\n

          Is Paris Burning\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Larry Collins & Dominique Lapierre<\/h2>\n

          Answer no.\u00a0 Thanks to some good Nazi\u2019s.\u00a0 In particular the General who refused to carry out Hitler\u2019s order to utterly destroy Paris.\u00a0\u00a0 De Gaulle is the self-determined man of destiny who commits hundreds of allied lives to the liberation of Paris on his time table \u2013 ensuring Paris is liberated and the war lasts much longer.\u00a0\u00a0 But he had to beat out those wretched commies who stayed there!<\/p>\n

          The Ballad of Peckham Rye\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Muriel Spark<\/h2>\n

          Lovely writing, lovely story, lovely times.\u00a0 The fifties and the Teds and the fairly innocent malevolence which resulted in a punch on the nose!<\/p>\n

          The Irish Famine\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Colm Toibin<\/h2>\n

          The shameful story of how an Empire turned its back on the struggling starving population of Ireland and ensured much misery for itself in the future.<\/p>\n

          Captain Bligh\u2019s Portable Nightmare\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Toohey<\/h2>\n

          A fascinating account of the epic voyage where Bligh sailed his tiny dinghy and delivered the survivors to safety almost through the force of his own fierce will.<\/p>\n

          Split Images\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          Rich psychotic bastard likes to kill for kicks and video them.\u00a0\u00a0 Interesting because he doesn\u2019t relent and save his heroin.\u00a0\u00a0 She is out and out murdered by the fascinating spoiled hero.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps the only untrue thing is that he doesn\u2019t get away with it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Epic Leonard.<\/p>\n

          Mother Night\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kurt Vonnegut<\/h2>\n

          On trial for being a Nazi war criminal.<\/p>\n

          May \u2013 August<\/h1>\n

          Napoleon The Final Verdict\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Various authors<\/h2>\n

          Fascinating essays on this most interesting of bastards.<\/p>\n

          Saint Augustine\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Garry Wills<\/h2>\n

          I found this rather too contentious for what this series aspires to be \u2013 potted biographies of Saints you might have missed.<\/p>\n

          Bandits\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          The last of three holiday Leonards \u2013 about the guy who works in the morgue and an ex-nun, trying to pick up the money raised by for the contras.<\/p>\n

          Be Cool\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          The latest \u2013 Chili Palmer\u2019s latest escapades amongst the music moguls and Russian Mafiosi.<\/p>\n

          California Fire and Ice\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don Winslow<\/h2>\n

          Best novel of the summer \u2013 gripping read about insurance investigator and the various scams in insurance, also with the Russian mafia.\u00a0 Great read \u2013 soon to be\u00a0 major picture, you bet.<\/p>\n

          Jules and Jim\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Henri-Pierre Roche<\/h2>\n

          Cute up to a point.\u00a0 Up to a point where you gag over the serial seductions.\u00a0 Interesting essay by Truffaut who made it into a much more impressive movie.<\/p>\n

          How to Read a Poem\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Molly Peacock<\/h2>\n

          An essential work.\u00a0 Inspired me to pick up and read a lot more poetry. Such a simple book.\u00a0 Such a simple idea. Yet written with such care and dedication.\u00a0 It\u2019s nothing short of inspiring.<\/p>\n

          Courtesans and Fishcakes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Davidson<\/h2>\n

          Yes all eight for a bit, but essentially someone\u2019s pop PHD.\u00a0 Not detailed enough to be a PhD and not punchy enough to be pop.<\/p>\n

          Dangerous Kiss\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jackie Collins<\/h2>\n

          Dear Jackie- she can\u2019t write for anything.\u00a0\u00a0 I got only a few pages in before tossing.\u00a0\u00a0 Away not off\u2026.<\/p>\n

          Protecting the Gift\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gavin de Becker<\/h2>\n

          Slightly d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu re- treading of his previous masterwork \u2013 but interesting and indeed vital info for parents.<\/p>\n

          Bit Number 4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fry and Laurie<\/h2>\n

          Hilarious skits from the masters of hilarity\u2026(Now a major book!)<\/p>\n

          Joan of Arc and Richard III\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles T. Wood<\/h2>\n

          Bit dry.\u00a0\u00a0 Probably make good kindling for the deluded French saint\u2026<\/p>\n

          Cleopatra\u2019s Palace\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Laura Foreman<\/h2>\n

          Interesting lavishly illustrated history of Cleopatra and her affairs and her life.\u00a0\u00a0 She is such a fascinating person.<\/p>\n

          The Year 1000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Lacey & Danny Danziger<\/h2>\n

          Life as it was lived at the turn of the previous millennium.<\/p>\n

          Monty Python Speaks\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Morgan<\/h2>\n

          Nicely laid out paperback of intercut excerpts from the Python boys.\u00a0 Not bad at all \u2013 though Took is busy writing himself into the history.. and one or two little bitchy moments.\u00a0\u00a0 Cleese is outed finally as the control freak he is.<\/p>\n

          The Ground Beneath Her Feet\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Salman Rushdie<\/h2>\n

          A stunning opening in South America followed by a disappointing stroll down the old territory of Bombay.\u00a0\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t finish it.<\/p>\n

          Josephine\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carrolly Erickson<\/h2>\n

          Unashamedly popular presentation of history, and a brilliant read it is too, about the more sympathetic half of the Bonaparte\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0 A fabulous woman who did well despite all.<\/p>\n

          Bringing Out the Dead\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joe Connelly<\/h2>\n

          Ambulance men and their world.\u00a0 Sort of Taxi Driver for 911.<\/p>\n

          True and False\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mamet<\/h2>\n

          Explodes the myth of Stanislavski\u2019s method.\u00a0\u00a0 Acting is fooling people not emoting publicly.<\/p>\n

          The Wild Party\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 by Joseph Moncure March, drawings by Art Spiegelman<\/h2>\n

          A naughty ballad beautifully illustrated.<\/p>\n

          Crazy Horse\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Larry McMurtry<\/h2>\n

          Great potted biographer of an interesting character in the most fascinating period.<\/p>\n

          A Positively Final Appearance\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alec Guiness<\/h2>\n

          But you can be sure it won\u2019t be!\u00a0\u00a0 He brims over with such urbanity could one possibly describe him as suburban.\u00a0\u00a0 He is so serious and such a snob that one is reminded of Peter Seller\u2019s wickedly accurate portrait of him.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          March – April<\/h1>\n

          The Fall of Paris\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alistair Horne<\/h2>\n

          One of the best and most fascinating history books ever.\u00a0 About the siege of Paris and the Commune\u00a0 1870-71.\u00a0 Totally fascinating.<\/p>\n

          By Design\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard E. Grant.<\/h2>\n

          Richard\u2019s Hollywood novel about the depraved and decadent acquaintances of one Vyvian an interior designer, and his masseuse partner Marga.<\/p>\n

          Stars Screaming\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Kaye<\/h2>\n

          I totally loved this Hollywood novel, which has the seedy flavor of total authenticity and zooms between the fifties and contemporary LA.\u00a0 Highly original and beautifully written by a native of Southern California.\u00a0 Wonderful writing.<\/p>\n

          The Things They Carried\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tim O\u2019Brien<\/h2>\n

          Utterly absorbing and wonderful book about Vietnam.\u00a0 About being there and coming home.\u00a0 About death, mud, but most of all about life.\u00a0\u00a0 Wonderful writing.<\/p>\n

          Love in a Blue Climate\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hanif Kureishi<\/h2>\n

          A shabby world of short stories.\u00a0 I got tired of grunge lit.<\/p>\n

          Single & Single\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carre<\/h2>\n

          Father against son, deception and betrayal in the arms and blood trade to the post Cold War Eastern bloc.\u00a0 Makes you nostalgic for simple war.\u00a0\u00a0 Gripping but not entirely convincing picture of the father.<\/p>\n

          The Cement Garden\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian McEwan<\/h2>\n

          Kids burying dead mum in dad\u2019s cement yard.\u00a0 Not for me.<\/p>\n

          Joshua Then and Now\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mordecai Richler<\/h2>\n

          Classic reminiscences of ageing Joshua by the Canadian master of humor and wit.\u00a0 Skeletons in family closets, incestuous siblings, all of Canada dry is here.<\/p>\n

          The Battle of the Little Bighorn\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mari Sandoz<\/h2>\n

          Absolutely masterful short history and recounting of two most fascinating battles.\u00a0 Wonderful writing and gripping history.<\/p>\n

          Crime Wave\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Ellroy<\/h2>\n

          Yes it\u2019s good, but I began to have enough of the writing by the end, though the true stuff is fascinating, about the murder of the author\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n

          Why We Write\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenwriters<\/h2>\n

          Pictures and statements from the poor bastards at the front line in the least enviable, but highly rewarded job in Hollywood.<\/p>\n

          With Nails \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard E.Grant<\/h2>\n

          Splendid stuff from\u00a0 the spell-binding Swazi spieler.\u00a0 Great yarns, great tales of filming, plus the desperate insecurities of being an actor.<\/p>\n

          It\u2019s the stupidity, stupid\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Harry Shearer<\/h2>\n

          Eloquent, elegant and rather brilliant essays about why people hate Clinton, which would have been a much better title.<\/p>\n

          February<\/h1>\n

          Dixie City Jam\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Lee Burke<\/h2>\n

          Tight, well written thriller, set in New Orleans, about sunken Nazi subs and neo fascists, with Detective Dave Robicheaux<\/p>\n

          Hell\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kathryn Davis<\/h2>\n

          Didn\u2019t get it.<\/p>\n

          The Travelling Horn Player\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barbara Trapido<\/h2>\n

          Bang on form again. Hooray.\u00a0 Artfully constructed tale with many viewpoints from the different characters involved in the tale of the death of Ellen Kent\u2019s sister Lydia and the way this accident involved so many and how it affected and changed their lives, with the big Trapido style bump into the right person suddenly happy ending, which works.\u00a0 I enjoyed it very much.<\/p>\n

          A Hard Time to be a Father\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fay Weldon<\/h2>\n

          Excellent stories from this wonderful writer.\u00a0 She is always interesting, especially about female betrayal, and deserting men – a recurring theme with her.<\/p>\n

          January<\/h1>\n

          Amsterdam\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian McEwan<\/h2>\n

          A gem of a book.\u00a0 Exquisite.\u00a0 Elegant, eloquent.\u00a0 Tightly constructed and beautifully written,\u00a0\u00a0 The deserved winner of the Booker Prize.\u00a0 A little masterpiece.<\/p>\n

          Lady Chatterley\u2019s Lover\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 D. H. Lawrence.<\/h2>\n

          Lawrence\u2019s final work.\u00a0 A deserved classic.\u00a0 It is the least filthy of all modern books, though it is partly about sex, but really it is about the life-affirming thin dark wiry man versus the cold unfeeling blond male (the same conflict as in Women in Love<\/em>.)\u00a0 I was struck by how well he wrote the early part and the breakdown of Connie\u2019s relationship with Clifford.\u00a0 Also the ambivalence his characters have.\u00a0 Mellors is absolutely not without flaws.\u00a0\u00a0 He has the 20\u2019s class down.\u00a0 It\u2019s like reading a much more modern Forster.\u00a0\u00a0 I think this book will last.<\/p>\n

          Glamorama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bret Easton Ellis<\/h2>\n

          I\u2019m sorry this will not do.\u00a0\u00a0 Long, name dropping first half, is enough to make you anxious that you have missed several editions of Vanity Fair, followed by an unbelievable bombing story set in London and Paris.\u00a0\u00a0 Reminds me that I like Jay MacInnerney.\u00a0 This man can write but he needs to find a more interesting subject than the Manhattan model world.<\/p>\n

          The Invention of Love\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Stoppard.<\/h2>\n

          The blessed Saint of our stage again with a new and interesting play about (amongst other things) A. E. Housman, which stoked my interest in this poet.\u00a0 How exquisitely well he writes, his wit and his jokes are well up to standard as he plays with Oxford and Hades and death and mortality and morality.\u00a0 I always feel more adult when reading Stoppard.<\/p>\n

          Heavy Water\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/h2>\n

          Heavy weather?\u00a0 Well no not exactly.\u00a0 It seems to me there are two Amis\u2019 still with us, the pretentious one who gets an idea for a sketch and then writes a whole novel on it, and the brilliant observational novelist who captures the ugly side of modern lower class warfare life.\u00a0\u00a0 The mobile phone carrying shell suited yob with aspirations.\u00a0 I adore this latter and he is here represented in at least two excellent longish short stories, which are both really excellent (State of England and The Coincidence of the Arts.)\u00a0 The other has this idea to swap poems for screenplays and \u2026oh dear.<\/p>\n

          Enduring Love\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian McEwan<\/h2>\n

          Nice pun in the title.\u00a0 The brilliant opening (a man is accidentally dragged into a fatal ballooning accident) and is haunted by an obsessive born again sufferer from de Clerambault\u2019s syndrome.\u00a0 Becomes a taut thriller, after it\u2019s staggeringly brilliant start.\u00a0 He is such a good writer of prose.\u00a0 Very enjoyable and actually scary.<\/p>\n

          A Certain Justice\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 P.D. James<\/h2>\n

          I bought this off a bookshelf in Vegas when I ran out of reading but I was disappointed in her.\u00a0 Very ITV drama style writing to me.\u00a0 If intriguing story about a barrister killed in Chambers.\u00a0 But I didn\u2019t believe a word of it.\u00a0 I\u2019d probably enjoy the TV version of it though Inspector (Dalgliesh).<\/p>\n

          The Professor and the Madman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Simon Winchester<\/h2>\n

          The odd and intriguing and very well written story of how Porfessor James Murray the editor of the huge and brilliant OED discovered that one of his major contributors was a Minor (Dr. Chester) an American murderer schizophrenic.\u00a0 True tale.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          Written for The Daily Mail.<\/h2>\n

          8 October 1999.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I am currently reading the latest Roddy Doyle novel \u201cA Star Called Henry\u201d\u2013 because he gave it to me when we were both signing books in San Francisco last week \u2013 and anyone who has read \u201cHello Sailor\u201d (my first scurrilous novel published 22 years ago) deserves a plug.\u00a0 The best novel I read recently\u00a0 was \u201cCalifornia Fire and Ice\u201d by Don Winslow \u2013 a gripping read about a Californian Fire Insurance investigator, and bound to be a major picture soon.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cStars Screaming\u201d by John Kaye is a superb Hollywood novel, which has the seedy flavour of total authenticity and zooms between the fifties and contemporary LA.\u00a0 Highly original and beautifully written by a native of Southern California.\u00a0 I love Barbara Trapido and I found her bang on form again in \u201cThe Travelling Horn Player\u201d which was artfully constructed from many viewpoints, with the big Trapido bump into the right person suddenly happy ending, which works.<\/p>\n

          The most inspiring book I read recently was Molly Peacock\u2019s \u201cHow to read a Poem\u201d, an essential work which inspired me to pick up and read a lot more poetry,\u00a0 and the most disappointing was Dominic Dunne\u2019s \u201cThe Way We Were\u201d which sadly failed as gossip and led me back to re-read Richard E. Grant\u2019s splendid \u201cWith Nails\u201d which is deliciously gossipy without ever becoming malicious.\u00a0\u00a0 I always read a lot of history and recently I have enjoyed \u201cCaptain Bligh\u2019s Portable Nightmare,\u201d Carolly Erickson\u2019s highly readable \u201cJosephine\u201d and \u201cThe Fall of Paris\u201d by Alistair Horne, which is the best book about the siege of Paris I have read.\u00a0\u00a0 If I ever have the misfortune to be cast away on a desert island without the Bible and Shakespeare then let it be Dickens, \u201cBleak House\u201d or \u201cOur Mutual Friend\u201d would do fine.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/u>1998<\/u><\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          January<\/h1>\n

          Wellington\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Hibbert<\/h2>\n

          A fascinating man, though not a fascinating author.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t disagree more with Antonia Fraser, but then she too writes history badly.\u00a0 I have never read a bio of this odd but heroic figure before.\u00a0 Enjoyed the life.\u00a0 Waterloo still stands triumphant as a brilliant but close run thing.<\/p>\n

          The Price of Admiralty\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Keegan<\/h2>\n

          I had to read about Trafalgar as a companion to Waterloo.\u00a0 He vividly recreates the carnage and amazing bloodshed on those fantastic wooden ships locked together firing broadsides into each other.\u00a0 Seems Nelson\u2019s willpower was the cause of victory (as well as superior tactics.)<\/p>\n

          The Crystal Frontier\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carlos Fuentes<\/h2>\n

          This has been my year to find Fuentes disappointing.\u00a0 This book is way too angry about the Yanks.\u00a0 It was only enlivened for me by reading about a character on the beach in Zihuatanejo, as I lay reading the book on the beach at Zihuatanejo.<\/p>\n

          The Campaign\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carlos Fuentes<\/h2>\n

          See above.\u00a0 Gone off him this year\u2026<\/p>\n

          The Grave of Alice B. Toklas\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Otto Friedrich<\/h2>\n

          Magnificent essays by the consummate master of historical writing.\u00a0 I just adore him and sadly learned he has died.\u00a0 From Mozart to the last emperor of Rome (a woman), his essays are never less than enthralling and informative.<\/p>\n

          A Single Man\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Isherwood<\/h2>\n

          I got a bit tired of him and left him in my beach hotel room\u2026where I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll soon be picked up.<\/p>\n

          Truman Capote\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 George Plimpton (editor)<\/h2>\n

          An odd shape for a book – rather like a TV documentary, all talking heads, but a nevertheless revealing look at this odd but wonderful writer.\u00a0\u00a0 Some people are bitchy and more revealing about themselves, notably Mailer and Gore Vidal, but still the sense of shock when all his New York friends dumped him, and his inability to realise it was inevitable and utterly predictable, (what did he think the rich would be nice and understanding?) make it both sad and interesting.\u00a0\u00a0 What a talent though.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          February<\/h1>\n

          Lucky Jim\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kingsley Amis<\/h2>\n

          It is a funny book and a classic, but I get a bit tired of Dixon and his inability to move away from Margaret the detestable leach.\u00a0 So many girls like that in the fifties.<\/p>\n

          Night Train\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis<\/h2>\n

          A detective story, first person narrative, female cop.\u00a0\u00a0 It all depended for me on the end, and I just knew it was going to be ambivalent and disappointing.\u00a0 He can really write, but chooses odd things to write about.<\/p>\n

          Great Expectations\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles Dickens<\/h2>\n

          The movie sent me back to the book and \u201cO\u201d level English days.\u00a0 I can re-read Dickens for ever.\u00a0\u00a0 This is surprisingly wittily written.\u00a0 I had forgotten how funny he is in his narrator voice.\u00a0 Brilliant.\u00a0 Classic.<\/p>\n

          The Royals \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kitty Kelley<\/h2>\n

          Much more interesting than I had expected.\u00a0\u00a0 Particularly fascinating about the young wives.\u00a0\u00a0 Fergie comes out as a nightmare.\u00a0\u00a0 It will probably be the last unvarnished portrait of Diana for a while.\u00a0\u00a0 What a manipulative person.\u00a0 Good to remember how she preyed on the husbands (Will Carling etc).<\/p>\n

          Cuba Libre\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          Rather disappointing.\u00a0 Set in Cuba in history it reminds one how some writers cannot and ought not escape their milieu.<\/p>\n

          Barney\u2019s Version\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mordecai Richler<\/h2>\n

          Totally hysterical.\u00a0\u00a0 That rare bird \u00a0– the really funny novel.\u00a0 I completely recommend it to everyone.\u00a0\u00a0 Wonderfully honest and utterly incorrect.\u00a0 Great.\u00a0\u00a0 (Recommended to me by John Irvine.\u00a0 Thanks.)<\/p>\n

          Before the Deluge\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Otto Friedrich<\/h2>\n

          A portrait of Berlin in the 1920\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0 Magnificent, chilling, account of the rise of Nazism.\u00a0 How insignificant they were.\u00a0\u00a0 How free Berlin was.\u00a0 How quickly power vacuum and deflationary economics can lead to fascism.\u00a0\u00a0 Chilling.\u00a0 Brilliant. He is a great historian.<\/p>\n

          Paradise\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Toni Morrison<\/h2>\n

          Yes.\u00a0 Well.\u00a0 Certainly imaginative writing.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t get into it.\u00a0 Can\u2019t imagine what Oprah\u2019s fans make of it.\u00a0 I kept getting the characters confused.\u00a0 She writes well, but not well enough for what she is trying to be I think.\u00a0 Got almost to the end before hurling\u2026<\/p>\n

          Philippe, Duc D\u2019Orleans\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christine Pevitt<\/h2>\n

          A fascinating history of the Regent of France, the nephew of Louis XIV.\u00a0 I had never really read the history of the Regency before (since A level).\u00a0 John Law and his attempt to create money.\u00a0 All the fabulous intrigues of the Court at Versailles, the amazing attempts at poisoning and so on.\u00a0 I really liked Philippe, and got an excellent picture of him from this book.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Very interesting and highly readable.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          March<\/h1>\n

          Scoop\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh<\/h2>\n

          Re-reading the novel about the mistake of the thinly disguised Beaverbrook character sending his gardening correspondent to cover a war in Africa.\u00a0 Not as funny as I remembered it, or has it just been disserved by a less than brilliant TV series?<\/p>\n

          The End of the World\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Otto Friedrich<\/h2>\n

          Re-reading bits of this excellent history of the times when people believed the world was going to end.\u00a0\u00a0 Very frequently.\u00a0 End Times time a hundred.\u00a0 One of my favourite histories.<\/p>\n

          Into Thin Air\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jon Krakauer<\/h2>\n

          A padded out article on the blizzard that killed so many on Everest. Worth skipping to the last chapters, which is an extended article and the most fascinating part.\u00a0 Why do they do it?\u00a0 Because they\u2019re there?<\/p>\n

          The Universe and The Teacup\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 K. C. Cole<\/h2>\n

          Feminista journo tackles large subjects.\u00a0 Alas less than gripping prose, though many of the facts are fascinating, her discussion of the mathematics of the Universe fails to ignite.<\/p>\n

          Maximum Bob\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          The judge is Harry Dean, the lady is Jackie Brown.\u00a0 The yarn is good.\u00a0 The alligators are a bonus, and the Judge\u2019s wife has a black slave girl inside her.\u00a0\u00a0 Interesting and good enough to be a movie, or did I see it already?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charlie Dore writes the most wonderful song about this novel.<\/p>\n

          April – June<\/h1>\n

          Riding the Rap\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          Oddly enough the sequel to the above, picked at random.\u00a0 Good flying material these paperbacks.\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes I find his style disjointed, when he switches scenes like a movie.\u00a0 The eye follows this transition easily on the screen, but the mind needs some clue where we are rather than just dialogue.\u00a0\u00a0 I see now what Martin Amis was trying to do.\u00a0 He worships Leonard.\u00a0 Actually me too.<\/p>\n

          The Switch\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          1978, amusing yarn.\u00a0\u00a0 This is oddly the plot of The Bette Midler\/Danny De Vito funny movie, about the kidnappers who snatch the wife he wants to divorce for his bimbo.\u00a0 More realistic and in many ways funnier, with a neat twist, she helps them kidnap the bimbo.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Kafka Was the Rage\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anatole Broyad<\/h2>\n

          I came I saw I got the gist.\u00a0 Actually be honest I read bugger all of this.\u00a0 Something about growing up non-Jewish in New York.<\/p>\n

          Falling Off the Map\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pico Iyer<\/h2>\n

          Nice pieces from lonely places.\u00a0 Good travel writer.\u00a0 But with me a little travel writer goes a long way.<\/p>\n

          Too Loud A Solitude\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bohumil Hrabal<\/h2>\n

          After the one book – I served the King of England – it\u2019s all been downhill for me with him.\u00a0 This one\u2019s about a trash compactor.\u00a0\u00a0 Wish he\u2019d included this\u2026<\/p>\n

          High Concept\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles Fleming<\/h2>\n

          Mind you for real trash you can\u2019t beat a life of Don Simpson.\u00a0\u00a0 Utterly meretricious.\u00a0 There is almost nothing of interest about the man except that some people apparently took him seriously.\u00a0 But only in Hollywood.\u00a0\u00a0 His films are trash, his life was shit.\u00a0\u00a0 You could reverse that sentence and it would still apply.\u00a0\u00a0 Poor Don, sadly not missed.<\/p>\n

          Le Divorce\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Diane Johnson<\/h2>\n

          I came, I saw, I got the gist. Pleasant enough, but not ultimately gripping enough story of American girl betrayed by a Frenchman.\u00a0 Yipes.\u00a0\u00a0 How surprising.\u00a0\u00a0 The Parisian setting gives this familiar jilting tale a fresh twist, but pour moi ca suffis.<\/p>\n

          Laughing Matters\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Larry Gelbart<\/h2>\n

          Amusing memoirs from the master wit of the dining table.\u00a0\u00a0 A splendid man.\u00a0\u00a0 Nice to run into him again after all these years, at the Aspen Comedy Festival, and watch Cleese (\u201cI don\u2019t want to make any movies\u201d) pumping him for film scripts.<\/p>\n

          Twenty One Balloons\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Pene du Bois<\/h2>\n

          1947 adventure yarn.\u00a0\u00a0 Not my tasse de tay.\u00a0\u00a0 Someone asked about a movie adaptation but I never finished the book.<\/p>\n

          Espionage\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ernest Volkman<\/h2>\n

          The Greatest Sy Operations of the 20th<\/sup> Century.\u00a0 Including the great operation where Norma Peal became Norma Peal.\u00a0\u00a0 Not really.\u00a0 Interesting yarns not very well told.\u00a0 More like journalism than a book.<\/p>\n

          Cities of the Plain\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cormac \u00a0McCarthy<\/h2>\n

          And then comes the occasional book that make it all worthwhile.\u00a0 The book you dread will end because you know you won\u2019t find another that is like it this year or many a year.\u00a0\u00a0 This is the final act of the border trilogy.\u00a0 The final inexorably tragic story of the love affair of a young Texan cowboy for a Mexican whore, that has, you know it, to end tragically.\u00a0\u00a0 But the nobility of the writing and the way he plays it out.\u00a0 Ah yes, the <\/em>\u00a0writer de nos jours.\u00a0\u00a0 Some of these pages take your breath away, and will continue to do so long after we are dust.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Becoming Human\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian Tattersall<\/h2>\n

          Fascinating book on the evolution and human uniqueness that takes its point of departure the arrival of the extraordinarily different homo sapiens Cro-Magnon, in Europe 25 kyr\u2019s ago.\u00a0 Written by a paleontologist, evolutionary biologist and primate behaviourist, this is not an easy read but a great and worthwhile study of our origins and our place in nature.<\/p>\n

          The Demon-Haunted World\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carl Sagan<\/h2>\n

          The alas late semi-great Carl. A wonderful populariser of science, here attacking the assholes of new age beliefs and stupid twaddle.\u00a0\u00a0 He really does demolish a lot of the unconventional wisdom which passes for the Gospel according to Shirley Maclean.<\/p>\n

          Labels\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Louis de Bernieres<\/h2>\n

          I love this guy.\u00a0 A tiny little pot-boiler book about a collector of labels and his hobby which made him a fortune when he began to turn around cat food as gourmet canned dishes.<\/p>\n

          Girl\u2019s Night Out\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kathy Lette<\/h2>\n

          Ozzie girls, cappucino, double pay Double Bay.\u00a0\u00a0 Shopping and shagging in Sydney.\u00a0 I felt I\u2019d been there and done that.\u00a0 She gets better after this I think.<\/p>\n

          Team Rodent\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carl Hiassen<\/h2>\n

          Nice anti-Disney polemic, showing how the mouse devours the world.\u00a0 Or tries to.\u00a0 Have a nice day.<\/p>\n

          Offshore\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penelope Fitzgerald.<\/h2>\n

          I rather enjoyed this Booker Prize Winning Novel set aboard the Barges on the Thames reach that seem so familiar from the sixties.\u00a0\u00a0 Nice characters well drawn.\u00a0 Deceptively good stuff.<\/p>\n

          On the Edge\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edward St.Aubyn<\/h2>\n

          Jerry Hall asked me to read this.\u00a0 She wants to make it into a movie.\u00a0 God knows why.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that it\u2019s bad, it isn\u2019t.\u00a0 It just ain\u2019t a movie.\u00a0 Various couples get together and finally find the light through orgasm at Essalen.\u00a0 Is Jerry drawn by the therapy, the new age search or the tantric sex?\u00a0\u00a0 I shan\u2019t stick around to find out.\u00a0\u00a0 From the book I mean\u2026<\/p>\n

          The Monty Python Encyclopaedia\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Ross<\/h2>\n

          More things I never even knew let alone wanted to.\u00a0\u00a0 Very nice raves about all my work anyway.\u00a0\u00a0 Certainly worth replying to the author!<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          July-August<\/h1>\n

           <\/p>\n

          This was the month I got very confused by Elmore Leonard.\u00a0\u00a0 I found I could re-read one of his books without noticing I had read it before.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not really a problem with a page turner, but a bit of a worry.\u00a0 So I list a few here and will try and differentiate.<\/p>\n

          Cat Chaser\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          About a Franciscan monk who has the touch.\u00a0\u00a0 Faith healing, and whackos.\u00a0 I gave up reading this because I suddenly remembered I had seen the movie version called God knows what with Matthew Maconiky and I\u2019m not a big fan of his..<\/p>\n

          Freaky Deaky\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          Now this I did enjoy.\u00a0 The girl Robin and Skip, her dope smoking friend, trying to extort money from Mr. Woody, the hugely fat drugged-out wealthy man.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chris the ex-bomb squad man trying to be a cop saves all, when Robin gets blown up through not listening, and serve her right too.<\/p>\n

          La Brava\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          Confusingly I even have two copies of this, but I believe I only read it once, but these editions don\u2019t carry a synopsis, just reviews, so you\u2019re on your own.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Damned if I know what happens.\u00a0 Ben Torres is in it, but he\u2019s in a few.\u00a0 Looking through it now I was almost positive I had read it, but then, guess what, I don\u2019t know what happens – dang, I could read it again! (I did)<\/p>\n

          Pronto\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          No, this one I do remember.\u00a0 I only read it a week ago though.\u00a0 It\u2019s about Harry the bookmaker and how he wants to retire to Italy, but the mob think he has been skimming and put the heat on him, and he is only saved by the cop with the Western hat on his spare time, who falls in love and ends up with his girl.\u00a0 He sure does keep the tension going though and I liked it.<\/p>\n

          Les Bon Mots\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eugene Ehrlich<\/h2>\n

          Preparation for holiday reading.\u00a0 Everyday French sayings.\u00a0 Most haven\u2019t stuck alas.\u00a0 C\u2019est la vache.<\/p>\n

          A Literary Companion to Venice\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian Littlewood.<\/h2>\n

          Including seven walking tours.\u00a0 Indispensable pre-Venetian reading, much of which I recalled as I wandered amongst the canals and Canaletto\u2019s.\u00a0 Fabulous historical moments at every corner of Venice.<\/p>\n

          Venice Observed\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mary McCarthy<\/h2>\n

          Fabulous writings and musings about Venice.\u00a0\u00a0 She made me aware of the sensual beauty of the textiles and fabrics, so I stopped and went in when I found that lovely shop with the Marco Polo hats and voila! Tania has a new coat.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Easy to re-read this each time one prepares for a trip to the most essential city.<\/p>\n

          Midnight\u2019s Children\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Salman Rushdie<\/h2>\n

          Sala\u2019am Salman.\u00a0\u00a0 Holiday reading, and I read it in Venice and Greece and France before finding I had had just a bit too much of Mr. Rushdie grabbing me by the throat and challenging me to dislike him.\u00a0 Oh yes a great book, and way too long and one day I might just finish the last hundred pages and see what happens to all those midnight children born on the stroke of India.<\/p>\n

          The Iliad\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Homer<\/h2>\n

          Well guess where I went on holiday, but this fabulous translation of the brutal behaviour of the Gods and the warlike warriors who dished it out on the beaches for ten years kept me gripped.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t finished but I shall.\u00a0 It\u2019s not the excellent version by Christopher Logue, which is a must read, but still fairly excellent blank verse translation.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not much to do with a luxurious Greek cruise though!<\/p>\n

          The Red Notebook\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Auster<\/h2>\n

          Don\u2019t think I read a lot of this. \u00a0The French poets leave me cold.\u00a0\u00a0 But I dipped into it because he writes of visiting France from America.\u00a0\u00a0 But he goes to Paris and he is young, and I went to Provence and I am old and I think the two are not the same thing at all.<\/p>\n

          News is a Verb\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pete Hamill<\/h2>\n

          A little polemic about the rotten state of newspapers today, by a sentimentalist and someone who was fired by Murdoch.<\/p>\n

          Blood and War\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barbara Ehrenbach<\/h2>\n

          War is to do with being preyed on by predators.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0August thru September1998<\/h1>\n

          La Brava\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          Hotel in Miami and a dry out clinic and an attempted kidnap and a double crossing ex movie star.<\/p>\n

          A Tidewater Morning\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Styron<\/h2>\n

          Exquisite writing.\u00a0 Three beautiful short stories, about the death of an old slave, boys in the war and poverty all set in the tidewater district of Virginia.<\/p>\n

          News of\u00a0 a Kidnapping\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gabriel Garcia Marquez<\/h2>\n

          Journalism, but interesting about the insufferable kidnappings in Colombia by Pablo Escobar and the Medellin cartel.<\/p>\n

          Barnaby Rudge\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles Dickens<\/h2>\n

          Half way through, Dickens is excellent travel fodder for journeys and making movies.\u00a0\u00a0 One of his few \u201chistorical\u201d novels set in the Gordon riots, many fabulous characters as usual.\u00a0 More later\u2026<\/p>\n

          Model Behaviour\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jay McInerney<\/h2>\n

          And seven stories.\u00a0 I enjoyed the stories more.\u00a0 I find his talent is so delicate and his scene setting so good, and his characters so exquisite that the stories come out best.\u00a0 Especially one about Hollywood.\u00a0 The novel itself is that 101 of American fiction the hard drinking, hard living New Yorker about to lose his girlfriend, and it still stinks, because we don\u2019t give a damn about her.\u00a0\u00a0 I like his writing though.<\/p>\n

          Sir Vidia\u2019s Shadow\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Theroux<\/h2>\n

          A story of a friendship and a pupillage ended. Finally after 30 years of being in his shadow Theroux steps out and yells foul at the slightly objectionable human being that is Naipaul.\u00a0\u00a0 Interesting about writers, writing and new wives.\u00a0 Theroux still leaving fiction for autobiographical tales and he does it painfully well here.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          October – November<\/h1>\n

          The Mystic Masseur\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 V. S. Naipaul<\/h2>\n

          Of course the Theroux book made me want to read Naipaul.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure that was his intent, but he really is very good.\u00a0 This book about the Trini mystic who became MP and then finally Surrey man.\u00a0 A very funny book about colonial life and aspirations.<\/p>\n

          Finding the Centre\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 V.S. Naipaul<\/h2>\n

          An essay about his start at the BBC writing his first novel, and a reminiscence about his Trinidad family life.<\/p>\n

          Marvellous Possessions\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Greenblatt<\/h2>\n

          Thoughts on Columbus and the New World and Language.\u00a0\u00a0 If only his narrative sense led him and not his academic talent.\u00a0 Much of this is totally fascinating, and I bought it because we were friends at Cambridge.<\/p>\n

          The Hotel Eden\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ron Carlson<\/h2>\n

          A wonderful collection of short stories.\u00a0 Quite remarkable in fact.\u00a0 Look out for more by him, as I rarely read short stories.<\/p>\n

          Wormholes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Fowles<\/h2>\n

          Essays and collected writings.\u00a0 I think visiting Greece made me want to read this, and he is certainly good about his time teaching in Greece at a strange British school there.\u00a0 Ultimately it is odd bits mixed with the towering ego of the writer.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t read them all. Because they didn\u2019t really grip me.<\/p>\n

          England, England\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Barnes<\/h2>\n

          A major disappointment for me after the achievement of his last book.\u00a0 Sadly it became that dreadful thing – the comic novel.\u00a0 The sad thing is that everything is predictable once it is set in motion: the nasty Maxwell character pays for sex in nappies in home counties bungalow brothels etc. etc. I had to give it up in despair.\u00a0 I hope he\u2019ll return to serious things.<\/p>\n

          Barnaby Rudge\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles Dickens<\/h2>\n

          Finished and very much enjoyed this.\u00a0 Of course there is the usual sentimental pairing off of all the young people, and this book is not a sharp as many, but his moral outrage over humbug and hypocrisy is good, though you never quite understand the connection between Gordon and his riots. One or two good characters Chester the self-satisfied knight, the happy hangman who is hanged, Ned the saturnine Edmund in Lear character.<\/p>\n

          Peter Cook\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A biography by Harry Thompson<\/h2>\n

          A hilarious account of the life of the funniest man in the world.\u00a0\u00a0 With many wonderful quotes \u201cTragically I was an only twin.\u201d\u00a0 His funny voice echoes through the book.\u00a0 Very well written and very enjoyable.<\/p>\n

          The Man who Loved Only Numbers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Hoffman<\/h2>\n

          Biography and studies in the mathematics of Paul Erdos, a wandering mathematical speed junkie obsessive.\u00a0 Still reading.<\/p>\n

          The Barmaid\u2019s Brain\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jay Ingram<\/h2>\n

          Strange tales from science, including the burning of the ships of Syracuse by Archimedes. I bought for an article on laughter which discovers a centre in the brain which causes laughter.\u00a0 Still dipping.<\/p>\n

          The Road Home\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jim Harrison<\/h2>\n

          I didn\u2019t get very far before ditching this long tome.\u00a0\u00a0 He just never grabbed me.\u00a0 Needs editing and focusing.\u00a0 Has the feel of a writer doing it because he must, because he needs the advance.\u00a0 Pity<\/p>\n

          Armadillo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd<\/h2>\n

          Now this I did enjoy.\u00a0 A comic tale, but very seriously told, set in the real world, not the BBC sit-com world Barnes writes about.\u00a0 About an armour collecting Insurance Loss Adjuster who is shafted by a deep scam in his paranoid world, his Romanian Bessarabian family background, and how he refuses to accept the role written for him.\u00a0 Great page turner and very well written. I always enjoy Boyd and look forward eagerly to his books.<\/p>\n

          December<\/h1>\n

          The Village\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mamet<\/h2>\n

          Great dramatists are not necessarily even good novelists.<\/p>\n

          Sap Rising\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A. A. Gill<\/h2>\n

          A very dirty but funny book.<\/p>\n

          Unweaving the Rainbow\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Dawkins<\/h2>\n

          A plea for the poetry of science.\u00a0 A reminder of just what little genetic basis there is for religion and superstition, in the cold hard world of DNA, and a brilliant series of essays, including the amazing timescale of our world and the supreme unlikelihood of our lives\u2026\u00a0 Very good.<\/p>\n

          A Man in Full\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Wolfe<\/h2>\n

          Full with a vengeance.\u00a0\u00a0 A very heavy book.\u00a0 I feel he is more of an essayist who writes novels.\u00a0 There is something utterly unconvincing in his yarns.\u00a0 This one he hooks you on the story and sort of abandons it.\u00a0 Just too damn long for his own good.\u00a0 Set in Atlanta about a real estate shit he cannot totally hate, and a young wimp who discovers Epictetus and Zeus and, oh whatever\u2026<\/p>\n

          The Luck of Ginger Coffey\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brian Moore<\/h2>\n

          Found a first edition to read as a bit of a corrective for the lengthy Wolfe. Brian can write.\u00a0 About the Irish immigrant in Montreal desperate for a job, who almost loses his life.<\/p>\n

          So that\u2019s it, another year of lovely reading.<\/h2>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1997<\/h2>\n

          January<\/h1>\n

           <\/p>\n

          My Other Life\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Theroux<\/h2>\n

          There is no such thing as a novel anymore\u2026What has already taken its place?\u00a0\u00a0 The work that is nearer to autobiography or memoir.\u201d<\/p>\n

          This is the leitmotif of this wonderful book and this fictional memoir is probably closer to the truth of his life than any autobiography. It calls itself a Novel yet the novelist Paul Theroux is central to the tale, wandering through reminiscences of his life in the wake of a failed marriage.\u00a0 (Nomadism in modern novelists – discuss!)\u00a0\u00a0 He is remarkably good on the female, especially the predatory female (Lady Max, Wanda Fagan, the rich wife of the American entrepreneur who wants poetry lessons, even the Queen.)\u00a0 It is full of rich ripe writing, with instantly memorable scenes.\u00a0\u00a0 Funny, touching, haunting, he gets better and better.\u00a0 I doubt I\u2019ll enjoy a book more this year.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          My Name Escapes Me\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alec Guiness<\/h2>\n

          The diary of a retiring actor and modest genius.\u00a0\u00a0 He writes well of his life.\u00a0 I do hope he doesn\u2019t destroy his diary as he threatens here to do – I suspect they are a good deal cattier and bitchier than this and he seems anxious to avoid offense, which makes him a good man.\u00a0\u00a0 Fifties men and Catholicism – discuss with particular reference to Guinness and Greene.\u00a0 Perhaps it is the need for authority and categorical imperatives that makes their generation so in love with either Marxism or Papacy.\u00a0\u00a0 We live in shiftier times – and have the nomads Chatwin and Theroux.\u00a0 You are nowhere nowadays unless you are going somewhere.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Making History\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Fry<\/h2>\n

          Started brilliantly, then slips into the time travel thing – how to eliminate Hitler.\u00a0 Hero pops up in an American body at Harvard.\u00a0 Slightly weird playing with ideas.\u00a0\u00a0 I like his writing about everyday life.<\/p>\n

          <\/h2>\n

          Penguin 60\u2019s<\/h2>\n

          Year One\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Marianne Faithful<\/p>\n

          The Portrait of Mr. W.H.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oscar Wilde<\/p>\n

          The Atheists Mass\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Honore de Balzac<\/p>\n

          The Trial of Oscar Wilde\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Ellmann<\/p>\n

          Rumpole, Younger Generation\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Mortimer<\/p>\n

          Nero and the Burning Rome\u00a0\u00a0 Tacitus<\/p>\n

          Anatomy of Restlessness Bruce Chatwin<\/h2>\n

          More exquisite collected pieces from the finest writer.<\/p>\n

          February<\/h1>\n

          Faithfull – An Autobiography\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Marianne Faithfull<\/h2>\n

          Very well written rock reminiscences of the mad fun days of the sixties when she was for a time Mick\u2019s consort.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When she becomes a junkie it becomes, like junkies, much less interesting.<\/p>\n

          Mr. Wilson\u2019s Cabinet of Wonder\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lawrence Weschler<\/h2>\n

          Rather fabulous description of a rather fabulous museum of the fabulous.<\/p>\n

          David Wilson\u2019s Museum of Jurassic Technology in Santa Monica.<\/p>\n

          The Prince, The Showgirl and Me\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Colin Clark.<\/h2>\n

          Six months on the set with Marilyn and Olivier by another naughty son of Lord Clark.\u00a0 Very indiscreet memoirs of the film acting world from a 3rd<\/sup> AD\u2019s point of view.\u00a0\u00a0 A rather tight-arsed Olivier and the completely maddening world of Marilyn. Very funny.<\/p>\n

          So Long, See you tomorrow\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Maxwell<\/h2>\n

          Rather dry reminiscences (novelised) of childhood.\u00a0 Starts with a murder but wimps out.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t finish.<\/p>\n

          Utz\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bruce Chatwin<\/h2>\n

          Oh rare one.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A Czech collector of Meissen prefers to maintain his own cabinet of wonders rather than leave the East, and his revenge on the predatory state waiting for him to die.\u00a0\u00a0 (He smashes it all.)\u00a0 Exquisite.<\/p>\n

          The Handmaid of Desire\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John L\u2019Heureux<\/h2>\n

          A very funny send up of post modernism and American English Departments by a practitioner.\u00a0 Skewers political correctness and I actually preferred him to Randall Jarrell\u2019s Pictures from an Institution.<\/em><\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Gift of Fear\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gavin de Becker<\/h2>\n

          Excellent book by a friend on violence and trusting your instincts.<\/p>\n

          March<\/h1>\n

          In the beauty of the Lilies\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Updike<\/h2>\n

          Began this wonderfully written story, set in Paterson New Jersey, after reading about it in Paul Theroux\u2019s new book. Elegant history of a family and their varying fortunes.\u00a0 I must say I had enough by pp255 though, still only about half way through.\u00a0\u00a0 I might return to it.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Husbands\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christopher Logue<\/h2>\n

          Part Three of his epic and wonderful translation of Homer\u2019s Iliad.\u00a0\u00a0 It gets better and better.\u00a0 I can\u2019t wait for more.\u00a0\u00a0 Truly great.<\/p>\n

          The Wars of the Roses\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Desmond Seward<\/h2>\n

          The History of the Yorks and the Lancs and the incessant gang warfare that devastated England and Scotland.\u00a0 How young they all where, and how many of them died.\u00a0 If you picked the wrong side you\u2019d had it.\u00a0\u00a0 Much insight into the Fifteenth century and facts I was woefully ignorant of – for example King Edward IV was King twice – once deposed then returned.\u00a0 Richard IIIrd, so young, and so violent.\u00a0\u00a0 Shakespeare was not so far out this history affirms.<\/p>\n

          Monster\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Gregory Dunne<\/h2>\n

          The story of how a movie got made from the tortured writers.\u00a0 Eight years of rewrites and drafts proves at least that movies are not a writer\u2019s medium. But a re-writers.\u00a0\u00a0 Nothing much new if you\u2019ve been there, but certainly from the heart and vindictive.<\/p>\n

          Cocaine Nights\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J.G.Ballard<\/h2>\n

          Not a great writer, but a very good plot point kept me hooked.\u00a0 Why did the narrators brother plead guilty to murder?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I have now forgotten why exactly but I needed to know and kept reading.\u00a0\u00a0 The thesis is that evil (or at least theft and crime) is essential to keep a community alive and vital!\u00a0\u00a0 Set on the Costa del Brit.<\/p>\n

          A White Merc with Fins\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Hawes<\/h2>\n

          Modern British writing.\u00a0 Ex junkie exhale.\u00a0 But I got into the story of the bank job, and liked the characters, despite initial reservations over the hip and trendy style.\u00a0 I stuck with it and enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

          Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil\u00a0\u00a0 John Berendt<\/h2>\n

          A wonderful book, set in Savannah and beautifully written.\u00a0\u00a0 Purportedly a true story, a writer settles in to the South for a look around.\u00a0\u00a0 The indolent pace quickens as one character becomes involved in the murder of another.\u00a0\u00a0 Many quirky and unforgettable characters, (a black drag queen called Chablis for instance)\u00a0 including a very funny scene at the trial of the freeloading Joe Odom.\u00a0\u00a0 Rather wonderful and a classic.<\/p>\n

          Enigma\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Harris<\/h2>\n

          Boys Own stuff set in wartime Bletchley amongst the cryotgraphers.\u00a0\u00a0 Nearest in spirit to John Buchan really.\u00a0 A yarn rather than a novel.\u00a0 Sort of movie idea really.\u00a0 Ideal part for Ralph Fiennes.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          April<\/h1>\n

          Hollywood Handbook\/Chateau Marmont\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Andre Balazs (ed)<\/h2>\n

          Stories and pictures from the history of everyone\u2019s favorite LA Hotel.<\/p>\n

          A Season In hell\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Arthur Rimbaud<\/h2>\n

          Wonderful French bullshit.\u00a0\u00a0 Unintelligible in both English and French.<\/p>\n

          Pocahontas The Life and The Legend\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Frances Mossiker<\/h2>\n

          An interesting romp through the life.\u00a0\u00a0 Full of too many \u201cprobably\u2019s\u201d to be good history.<\/p>\n

          Lives of the Monster Dogs\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kirsten Bakis<\/h2>\n

          A birthday present.\u00a0 Got a bit bored with tales of dogs in New York city.\u00a0 Enough bitches all ready.<\/p>\n

          A Very Long Engagement\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sebastien Japrisot<\/h2>\n

          Beautiful French novel of WW1, and a kind of who-dun-it tale of shot deserters, pushed out into No Man\u2019s Land by the French army.<\/p>\n

          The Names of the Dead\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stewart O\u2019Nan<\/h2>\n

          A wonderful post Vietnam war novel about a survivor stalked by a determined killer and victim.\u00a0 The clash between the banal world of the bread company, the failure of his marriage, and the increasing boldness of his stalker leads to a fine tension, which does not quite finally succeed at the end.\u00a0\u00a0 But a great read.<\/p>\n

          My Antonia\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Willa Cather<\/h2>\n

          At last I read her, and see why so many people recommend her.\u00a0\u00a0 Her prose is quite simply wonderful, her tale simple and powerful.\u00a0\u00a0 About the settlers in America and their struggles to survive in the harsh winters of the mid west, after long treks from Bohemia.\u00a0\u00a0 No sentimentality but plenty of sentiment.<\/p>\n

          May – June<\/h1>\n

          Snakes and Ladders\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gita Mehta<\/h2>\n

          A wonderful collection of essays and reflections on modern India after 50 years.\u00a0 The most interesting book on India I have ever read.\u00a0 Superb.<\/h2>\n

          Kowloon Tong\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Theroux.<\/h2>\n

          Hey Paul, maybe you\u2019re being a bit prolific.\u00a0 Maybe two books a year is too much.\u00a0\u00a0 This is a Hong Kong pot-boiler, and as such a warning about the loss of Hong Kong for the Brits.\u00a0\u00a0 It is trying to be Greene, and doesn\u2019t quite come off.\u00a0 About a factory owner who is shaken down, and out, by the Chinese army.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Dinosaur in a Haystack\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Jay Gould<\/h2>\n

          Essays in Natural History by a most interesting man who alas cannot write.\u00a0 If only his prose was as as advanced as his mind.\u00a0\u00a0 A Pity because I really am interested in his subjects.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ll keep dipping.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Fermat\u2019s Last Theorem\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Simon Singh<\/h2>\n

          The best book I have read for ages, and certainly the best book on Mathematics I have ever read.\u00a0 He makes understanding the world of mathematics accessible to the non-mathematician.\u00a0 I really loved the whole book, the shape, the intrigue, the history\u2026fascinating.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Best of Young American Novelists\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Granta<\/h2>\n

          Short stories.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Readable.\u00a0\u00a0 Varied.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          City of Nets\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Otto Friedrich<\/h2>\n

          A portrait of Hollywood in the 1940\u2019s.\u00a0 Fascinating.\u00a0 Very well written history of this strange town, the German exiles, the Jewish leaders, the scandals, the vandals and the deaths of stars\u2026.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Very enjoyable.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Last Party\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Haden-Guest<\/h2>\n

          Almost as boring as a night at Studio 54.\u00a0 Purports to be a history of disco.\u00a0 The inmates of a mental asylum might be more interesting than the usual dull suspects of Liza, Andy, Steve Rubell, whacked out of their tiny minds on Quaaludes, posing as emperors.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Just like cocaine, there is not a single memorable line\u2026..<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Golden Girl\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alanna Nash<\/h2>\n

          The story of Jessica Savage.\u00a0\u00a0 Having read the John Gregory Dunne book and watched the movie, I thought I would read her story.\u00a0 Sadly, this is even more uninteresting.\u00a0\u00a0 From the author of Dolly, the biography of Dolly Parton.\u00a0\u00a0 Her prose says it all\u2026<\/p>\n

          The Television Plays 1965- 1984\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Stoppard<\/h2>\n

          Oh what a master he is.\u00a0\u00a0 A chance to re-read my favorite TV play \u201cProfessional Foul.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Amazing how he manages to tie in a demonstration and a discussion of ethics with professional football.\u00a0\u00a0 He is the genius de nos jours.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Hill of Devi\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E.M. Forster<\/h2>\n

          E.M. Forster in drag.\u00a0 Dressed up, working at the Court of a young Maharaja in 1921 as a Private Secretary.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Six Tales of the Jazz Age and other stories\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F. Scott Fitzgerald<\/h2>\n

          I only read one, about the Jellybean.\u00a0 Might dip more, or might just re-read Gatsby.\u00a0\u00a0 He is a master.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          July<\/h1>\n

          The Frequency of Souls\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mary Kay Zuravleff<\/h2>\n

          Comedy.\u00a0 Sort of forgotten.\u00a0 Quite liked it at the time\u2026er<\/p>\n

          The Alan Clark Diaries\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alan Clark<\/h2>\n

          Interesting enough, bitch, but after a bit you become overwhelmed by the impression that he is a self satisfied pompous oaf, snobbish and filled with a mistaken sense of his own importance.\u00a0 Perhaps betrayal is his real talent.\u00a0\u00a0 Sexual, social and political.\u00a0\u00a0 How revealing are diaries\u2026<\/p>\n

          Testaments Betrayed\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Milan Kundera<\/h2>\n

          A wonderful thought provoking book.\u00a0 Essays on creation and the artist, with special reference to Kafka, Stravinsky, Fuentes.\u00a0 Full of witty and germane observations about creativity, criticism and the making of art.<\/p>\n

          Eat Me\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Linda Jaivin<\/h2>\n

          Rude female Australian porno best selling book.\u00a0\u00a0 The cover leaves nothing to the imagination.\u00a0 Nor does the writing.\u00a0 It is what it is.\u00a0 Porn chic.<\/p>\n

          Terra Nostra\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carlos Fuentes<\/h2>\n

          A very long mad insane trip of a book.\u00a0\u00a0 Spain, the Spanish, redemption at the time of Philip 1 and 11.\u00a0 Recurring patterns and characters through time and space.\u00a0 Odd to read.\u00a0\u00a0 Enough was enough at halfway.<\/p>\n

          <\/h1>\n

          August<\/h1>\n

          Cod\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mark Kurlansky<\/h2>\n

          The most unlikely but totally interesting book.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cA biography of the fish that changed the world.\u201d\u00a0 Elegantly written and fascinating.\u00a0 I was hooked!<\/p>\n

          The Waste Land\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 T.S.Eliot<\/h2>\n

          A re-read of a classic.<\/p>\n

          The Annals of Imperial Rome\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tacitus<\/h2>\n

          Marvellous, wonderful history of our favourite Romans.<\/p>\n

          Breakfast at Tiffany\u2019s\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Truman Capote<\/h2>\n

          A total gem of a book.\u00a0\u00a0 Refreshingly wonderfully delightfully crafted and written.\u00a0 With two other short stories House of Flowers, Diamond Guitar.<\/em><\/p>\n

          Maigret and the Flemish Shop\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Simenon<\/h2>\n

          Typical Maigret.\u00a0\u00a0 Good holiday yarn.<\/p>\n

          A World Lit Only By Fire\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Manchester<\/h2>\n

          One of my favourite books of the year.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 History of the close of the Medieval era and the Renaissance.\u00a0\u00a0 Clearly, concisely written for the general reader.\u00a0 All the Popes and their nastiness.\u00a0 Very good indeed.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          August – December<\/h1>\n

          The War of Don Emmanuel\u2019s Nether Parts Louis de Bernieres<\/h2>\n

          Wonderful novel by a wonderful writer.\u00a0 Set in South America with magnificent characters.<\/p>\n

          The Gentleman in the Parlour\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 W. Somerset Maugham<\/h2>\n

          Record of a journey from Rangoon to Haiphong.\u00a0 I prefer his stories.<\/p>\n

          Esprit de Corps\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lawrence Durrell<\/h2>\n

          Sketches from diplomatic life.\u00a0 Re-read about Antrobus, the epitome of the Foreign Office.<\/p>\n

          Brideshead Revisted\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh<\/h2>\n

          Re-read the classic novel.\u00a0 Holds up very well as one of his finest books.<\/p>\n

          Answered Prayers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Truman Capote<\/h2>\n

          Elegantly decadent.\u00a0 There is something very sad about this book.<\/p>\n

          In the Dutch Mountains\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cees Nooteboom<\/h2>\n

          Circus performers in a Dutch magical mystery tale.\u00a0 Bit dull.<\/p>\n

          The Great Gatsby\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F.Scott Fitzgerald<\/h2>\n

          Dipped into for a quick re-read.\u00a0 What a writer.<\/p>\n

          Diplomatic Bag\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edited by John Ure<\/h2>\n

          Anthology of diplomatic incidents and anecdotes.<\/p>\n

          Sex and The City\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Candace Bushnell<\/h2>\n

          New York mating rituals.\u00a0 Been here before.<\/p>\n

          Manon Lescaut\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Abbe Prevost<\/h2>\n

          Another tale of a young man ruined by a courtesan.\u00a0 Very French.<\/p>\n

          Timequake\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kurt Vonnegut<\/h2>\n

          His final novel. I love Vonnegut.<\/p>\n

          Starship Titanic\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Terry Jones<\/h2>\n

          Just dipped into this.\u00a0 Terry has written the novel of Douglas Adams\u2019 CD game!\u00a0\u00a0 I only briefly dipped in order to avoid any clash with mine.<\/p>\n

          Dinosaur in a Haystack\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Jay Gould<\/h2>\n

          Essays in Natural History, which prove once again that though he is an interesting talker he is not a natural writer. \u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s a pity his prose style is so tiring, for his subjects are usually interesting.<\/p>\n

          Questioning the Millennium\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Jay Gould<\/h2>\n

          A pot-boiler which suffers from the same defects I find in all his essays.\u00a0 He is not a natural essayist.\u00a0 More\u2019s the pity.<\/p>\n

          The Old Religion\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mamet<\/h2>\n

          A Jewish man trapped in a world of prejudice, is eventually hanged for the murder of a young girl.<\/p>\n

          Diana\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carlos Fuentes<\/h2>\n

          The story of a Mexican writers affair with an actress, based on his own with the sad Jean Seberg.\u00a0\u00a0 About jealousy and the end of a love affair.<\/p>\n

          Olympia\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Otto Friedrich<\/h2>\n

          A beautiful book about Manet\u2019s great classic painting, the model who sat for it, the appalled reception it received, and the group of Impressionists (Monet, Renoir, Pissaro) and their Parisian world which was utterly changed by the foolish Franco-Prussian war with Bismarck, which caused the fall of Louis Napoleon and the awful suffering of the winter siege of Paris by the Prussians, and the artists who fought against them.<\/p>\n

          Graham Crackers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Chapman<\/h2>\n

          A pot-boiler of pieces, which shows the paranoid side of the old pipe smoker.\u00a0\u00a0 Foreword by John, backward by me, and sideways by Terry Jones.\u00a0 Rather too many dull sketches written by Graham with Jim Yoakum.<\/p>\n

          My Uncle Oswald\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Roald Dahl<\/h2>\n

          Raunchy\u00a0 tales of Uncle Oswald the boy entrepreneur with his aphrodisiac beetle, and Yasmin the sexy and seductive.<\/p>\n

          The Garden of the Finzi-Continis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Giorgio Bassani<\/h2>\n

          A rich Jewish family in Ferrara.\u00a0 Love and growth and the terrible banality of the unpredictable nightmare world of evil that was approaching.<\/p>\n

          The Magician\u2019s Wife\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brian Moore<\/h2>\n

          Oh dear.\u00a0 He gave me a copy personally signed and I don\u2019t like it!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s the first of Brian\u2019s I haven\u2019t cared for.\u00a0\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t seem to warm to his theme, maybe it\u2019s the historical period, Louis-Napoleon, he does seem to evoke the bleakly ambivalent modern world best.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t finish it.\u00a0 Too bad.<\/p>\n

          Another City Not My Own\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dominick Dunne<\/h2>\n

          A novel in the form of a memoir.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (Isn\u2019t this where the year started?)\u00a0 He cleverly names all names but his own.\u00a0 His narrator is fictional, and murdered by Andrew Cunanan.\u00a0\u00a0 Everything else works but this last.\u00a0\u00a0 His gossipy expose of the rich and trivial and their obsession (shared with the world) at the monstrous farce of the O.J. trial.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Intrapsychic Experience of Fame\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pamela Helen Connolly<\/h2>\n

          And lurking behind that married name is one who knows, the really hilarious Pamela Stephenson.\u00a0 In this thoughtful and original dissertation she begins to dissect the unenviable experiences of fame.\u00a0\u00a0 Very good, very useful to the damaged.\u00a0 I am one of the hidden interviewees.\u00a0\u00a0 Should become a book.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          <\/h2>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/u>1996<\/u><\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          January<\/h1>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          Juggling\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barbara Trapido.<\/h2>\n

          Oh she has gone off so much.\u00a0 She was so good.\u00a0 Oh dear.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Lost World\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Crichton<\/h2>\n

          Typing not writing.\u00a0 Bares the baleful effect of written for the cinema.\u00a0 Plus the deathly (for novels) hand of Spielberg, put some cute kids in it!<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Aspects of the Novel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E.M.Forster.<\/h2>\n

          Excellent, wry amusing lectures on the novel and novel writing.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Quiet American\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

          His elegantly written, beautifully constructed novel.\u00a0 Revenge on America for a war that hadn\u2019t started yet.\u00a0 If only Generals read novels.<\/p>\n

          Ageing cynical correspondent arranges for death of na\u00efve but deadly CIA operative who wants his Vietnamese girlfriend.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          February March April<\/h1>\n

          (Got rather behind in the list, so in no particular order I find I have read, dipped into or discarded the following..)<\/p>\n

          Cruising Paradise\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sam Shepard<\/h2>\n

          One of the best books of the year.\u00a0 Wonderfully written.<\/p>\n

          Myra Breckinridge\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gore Vidal.<\/h2>\n

          Suppose it is redundant to say that it is such a gay novel that I got a little bored with the re reading of it.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Swimming Underground\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 Mary Woronov<\/h2>\n

          She very kindly sent me her book.\u00a0\u00a0 I liked it to start then as always the story of weird Andy and other people\u2019s drugs got me less than interested.\u00a0\u00a0 She is great though.\u00a0\u00a0 I love her painting as well.<\/p>\n

          The Astonishing Hypothesis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Francis Crick<\/h2>\n

          So astonishing I kept falling asleep.\u00a0 It is not a late night book but I am intrigued by this scientific search for the soul and do intend to keep dipping.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Lectures on literature.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Vladimir Nabokov<\/h2>\n

          I love this book.\u00a0\u00a0 This time I read the stuff on Ulysses, which seems a lot more interesting than Ulysses.\u00a0\u00a0 But this novelists guide to novels is the most instructive and informative literary criticism I ever read.\u00a0 To have been there for the lectures!!<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Paris Review.\u00a0 Number 136.\u00a0 Whither Mirth<\/h2>\n

          Of course as part of my research but pretty bloody interesting nevertheless\u2026.\u00a0 It is really more about humor and humorous writing than comedy itself.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Real Sleeper\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Theodore Roosevelt Gardner 11<\/h2>\n

          I wonder who the first one was.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One would have seemed quite enough.\u00a0 Two is definitely excessive.\u00a0\u00a0 Impulse buy, and swiftly chucked.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Youth:\u00a0 A Narrative\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph Conrad.<\/h2>\n

          Oh yes.\u00a0\u00a0 The Penguin one.\u00a0 Great re-read.\u00a0 Though his books seem to remind me of the ancient Mariner.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I read several of these tiny pocket penguins including\u2026<\/p>\n

          The Great Fire of London\u00a0\u00a0 Samuel Pepys.<\/h2>\n

          Wonderful diaries.\u00a0\u00a0 What an extraordinary event to have witnessed.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Empire of Rome AD 98 -180.\u00a0\u00a0 Edward Gibbon<\/h2>\n

          God\u2019s Utility Function\u00a0 \u00a0 Richard Dawkins<\/h2>\n

          The Alan Clark Diaries\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thatcher\u2019s Fall.<\/h2>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Tartuffe.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Moliere<\/h2>\n

          Yes, well it is wonderful.\u00a0\u00a0 Amazing how cleverly constructed.\u00a0 We hear all about Tartuffe long before we see him, so that he doesn\u2019t have to do that much to create the villainy.\u00a0\u00a0 Of course the great scene where he jumps on the wife – with the wife\u2019s permission, with the husband under the table is wonderful.\u00a0 The end with the Deus ex Machina as Louis XIV is still a bit of a fraud.<\/p>\n

          I\u2019m Losing You\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bruce Wagner<\/h2>\n

          He sent it to me.\u00a0 Very graphic writing.\u00a0\u00a0 Everyone has aids, shrinks, death, vices, drugs, in Hollywood.\u00a0 I found it a little difficult to differentiate between the characters (many of whom talk to us).\u00a0\u00a0 Which is not so good.\u00a0\u00a0 He can hammer it out though.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Light Fantastic\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Lahr<\/h2>\n

          I find him really good on Showbiz.\u00a0\u00a0 Especially comedians.\u00a0\u00a0 Less interesting on the playwrights, usually because I haven\u2019t seen the plays.\u00a0\u00a0 But he is an interesting chappie.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          dancing lessons for the advanced in age\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 bohumil brabal<\/h2>\n

          I have used lower case and no full stops because that is what he has done for no particular reason or effect I like the way he writes but this is a little artful very short and not as good as I served the King of England.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          May<\/h1>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Reviving Ophelia\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mary Pipher<\/h2>\n

          Tania\u2019s great find.\u00a0 The sad story of adolescent girls and a grim warning for the future\u2026.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Cross Channel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Barnes<\/h2>\n

          The book of the year so far!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Short stories all about and in France.\u00a0\u00a0 Fabulously written and constructed.\u00a0\u00a0 That wonderful sort of book you dread finishing.\u00a0 Lingering, hauntingly beautiful and elegantly written.<\/p>\n

          I loved it.<\/p>\n

          Slowness\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Milan Kundera<\/h2>\n

          Translated from the French is it cheap to say it sounds like a translation of a translation?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A chateau where a writer dreams of his characters who are engaged in a scientific congress one of whom then encounters a young man who has been double crossed at the time of Les Liasons.\u00a0\u00a0 It is indeed like a scenario for an opera.<\/p>\n

          <\/h2>\n

          The Last of the Savages\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jay McInerney<\/h2>\n

          A sweet book, if a closet dream.\u00a0 The good friend writes the life of his wild 60\u2019s dropout classmate (Memphis – music), and finally provides the sperm for his baby, while marrying and yet still being really gay.\u00a0\u00a0 That sounds bald.\u00a0 It is in fact fairly good, touching writing. Though I always like him.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          June<\/h1>\n

          Some Clouds\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paco Ignacio Taibo 11<\/h2>\n

          Kind of Mexican Chandler, only not as interesting.\u00a0 Private dick, gumshoe pulp.\u00a0 Junked.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Of Love and Other Demons\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gabriel Garcia Marquez<\/h2>\n

          I think I\u2019ve had quite enough of this sort of thing for a while.\u00a0\u00a0 Done better by him elsewhere.\u00a0 I got bored.\u00a0 Magical realism thing.\u00a0 Sorry Gabby.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Making Movies\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sidney Lumet<\/h2>\n

          About making movies.\u00a0 Almost as interesting as the real thing.\u00a0 And about as long.\u00a0 Directors seem so fascinated by themselves on such little evidence.\u00a0\u00a0 Of course I should have been warned: it came warmly wazzu recommended by Roger Ebert, the fat one of the twin critics.\u00a0 Junked.<\/p>\n

          Murderers and Other Friends\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Mortimer<\/h2>\n

          Very much enjoyed his continued reminiscences.\u00a0 Although I am not a huge fan of his other writings (with the exception of Voyage Round My Father) I always find his anecdotal reminiscences interesting because of his honesty and the clarity of his writing.<\/p>\n

          Fever Pitch\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nick Hornby<\/h2>\n

          Confessions of an Arsenal fan.\u00a0 Poor demented supporter during the dull days at Highbury.\u00a0\u00a0 More interesting than the team.\u00a0\u00a0 And made into no less than two movies, though one about the Boston red sox filmed, fortunately for the Producers, during their first successful World Series.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          July<\/h1>\n

          Hit & Run\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nancy Griffin & Kim Masters<\/h2>\n

          The ampersands say it all.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s that kind of writing.\u00a0\u00a0 The unbelievable story of how Gubers and Peters made so much money off Sony.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Quite as dull as the real people.\u00a0\u00a0 I junked it early.<\/p>\n

          Make-Believe Town \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mamet<\/h2>\n

          At first I was engrossed, the terse elegance of his style, his interesting flair, his remembrances of a Lake Shore life.\u00a0\u00a0 About the time he began to describe sitting in a tree for days at a time with a painted face in order to slaughter deer I began to dislike him.\u00a0\u00a0 By the time he complained that putting up Christmas trees were anti-semitic he completely lost me.<\/p>\n

          Abba Abba\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Burgess<\/h2>\n

          Not very interesting.<\/p>\n

          The Prague Orgy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Roth<\/h2>\n

          Less interesting than the title.\u00a0\u00a0 Junked.<\/p>\n

          Coming Through Slaughter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Ondaatje<\/h2>\n

          I love the way he writes.\u00a0\u00a0 This is the story of Buddy Bolden, a New Orleans jazz trumpeter who went nuts while playing in New Orleans.\u00a0\u00a0 Beautifully written, almost like a scenario, he brings everything to life.<\/p>\n

          August<\/h1>\n

          Worst Fears.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fay Weldon<\/h2>\n

          I think dear Fay is writing way too much because I can\u2019t honestly remember a thing about this.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oh yes, something about an actress and her dead husbands adultery.\u00a0\u00a0 Like an ITV play.<\/p>\n

          What Am I Doing Here?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bruce Chatwin<\/h2>\n

          Wonderful travel pieces.\u00a0 He writes so well.\u00a0\u00a0 Some pieces written around the time I met him in Australia (83?).\u00a0 What a great writer.<\/p>\n

          City of Angels\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Larry Gelbart<\/h2>\n

          The book of the Musical.\u00a0 Some good bits, but all a little bit stock.\u00a0 I enjoyed it, but felt it was a post modern musical, almost written in quotes.<\/p>\n

          The Law of White Spaces\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Giorgio Pressburger<\/h2>\n

          Translated from the Italian.\u00a0 Medical short stories.\u00a0 Well written.<\/p>\n

          Boy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Roald Dahl<\/h2>\n

          First part of his life, goes some way to explaining the dark mix of this Norwegian\/Welsh writer.\u00a0 Boarding school with its dark terrors is minimised.\u00a0\u00a0 Not so in Matilda where the truth emerges.<\/p>\n

          Hotel Paradise\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martha Grimes<\/h2>\n

          Okay holiday read, except way too long, and I lost interest.\u00a0 About the long ago drowning of a young twelve year old written by a contemporary twelve year old who\u2019s parent owns a hotel.\u00a0 In the Appalachians.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not chosen by me but suggested.\u00a0 Never a good experiment.<\/p>\n

          Eugenie Grandet\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Honore de Balzac<\/h2>\n

          A remarkable book.\u00a0\u00a0 About the miser Grandet and his daughter.\u00a0 It ends like life and not like a normal novel.\u00a0 Very modern, very real.<\/p>\n

          Portrait of a Marriage\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nigel Nicholson<\/h2>\n

          Hilarious.\u00a0 Unconsciously so.\u00a0\u00a0 Dear Vita and her lesbo love affair with Violet Trefusis and V. Woolf.\u00a0\u00a0 I laughed out loud, insensitive, uncaring sod.\u00a0 I\u2019m just too middle class to take all this Bloomsbury wanking seriously.<\/p>\n

          I love the way her poor husband writes though.\u00a0\u00a0 Her son takes it all a bit too seriously.\u00a0\u00a0 I think it would make a very funny show\u2026<\/p>\n

          September<\/h1>\n

          The Last Don\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mario Puzo<\/h2>\n

          In great form, the Mafia family feuds of course. Even unto the second generation.\u00a0 Vegas, Hollywood.\u00a0\u00a0 Great moral yarn about the corrupt and corruption.<\/p>\n

          Putting On The Ritz\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joe Keenan<\/h2>\n

          Hilarious.\u00a0 Incredibly funny, beautifully comedically written yarn about two gay men and their tubby female friend, involved in a chaotic form of infighting between two rich feuding publishers – clearly the Donald (Trump) and an old faggy seventy year old (Forbes),\u00a0\u00a0 Some truly funny set pieces and inspired dialogue.<\/p>\n

          Something Like Fire\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter Cook Remembered.\u00a0 Various authors<\/h2>\n

          \u201cI would like to invent something useful.\u00a0\u00a0 Something like fire.\u201d\u00a0 E.L. Wisty.<\/p>\n

          Wonderful, hilarious and touching reminiscences of the great, kind, loveable man, from an assortment of friends, rivals and devotees.\u00a0 Fry the best, also contributions from me, Mike, John, Bill Goldman etc etc.\u00a0\u00a0 A very fine memento mori edited by Lin his widow, who writes of his garden.<\/p>\n

          Blue Heaven\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joe Keenan<\/h2>\n

          The first novel, of which Ritz is the sequel.\u00a0 Same characters.\u00a0 This time the plot revolves around a gay man (Gilbert) marrying an unspeakable fibber in order to collect on the wedding presents from the family.\u00a0\u00a0 Unfortunately the family turns out to be a Family, and Mafia men abound.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Very funny.\u00a0 Not quite as hilarious as Ritz, which it preceded.<\/p>\n

          Pere Goriot\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Balzac<\/h2>\n

          An interesting novel of the rich old man Goriot and his unspeakable daughters who take him for everything to advance in to Parisian society.\u00a0 Almost Dickensian satire, contrasting the low life of the boarding house and the lodgers with the glitter and artificial emotional life of Paris.\u00a0\u00a0 Not entirely pulled off, since Balzac is better at realism than Dickens and this is a satirical subject.\u00a0 Balzac succeeds with the portrait of the young student and the sexual realities which Dickens would not have gone near.<\/p>\n

          The Far Corner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Harry Pearson<\/h2>\n

          Another of those incessant books about football and the weirdos who give their lives and love to following sweaty men in striped shirts.\u00a0\u00a0 We\u2019ve all been there alas.\u00a0\u00a0 This one is of course funny, but by its very nature repetitive, so by the time you get to the tenth match there is nothing particularly fresh or interesting to learn, so I packed it up.<\/p>\n

          The Last Thing He Wanted\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joan Didion<\/h2>\n

          A strange book.\u00a0\u00a0 At first I found it very irritating.\u00a0 She obscures rather than reveals plot and character, preferring to reveal through hints and obscure glimpses rather than lead us straight through narrative.\u00a0 This is deliberate, and apt, given the clandestine world of the subject,\u00a0 Fathers, arms dealings, CIA, Caribbean uprisings, mistrust, set-ups, double dealings.\u00a0\u00a0 In the end I liked what she was doing. It is a 20th<\/sup> Century stratagem plot,\u00a0 not quite Le Carre, because you know what is coming, but still you feel the events and the people \u201cthrough a glass darkly.\u201d\u00a0 This prevented me from warmly embracing the book, though I read it swiftly.<\/p>\n

          October<\/h1>\n

          The Great Fire of London\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Samuel Pepys.<\/h2>\n

          The shortest Pepys.\u00a0 Wonderfully dramatic excerpt from the nightmare two weeks when London burned.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s in the detail that makes him such a good writer.<\/p>\n

          A visitation of the Plague\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel Defoe<\/h2>\n

          Again the Penguin extract but read in conjunction with the above is a great slice of London history.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This was truly a nightmare time in the City.<\/p>\n

          Down the Yangtze\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Theroux<\/h2>\n

          Again just the short extract, but beautifully observed\/<\/p>\n

          Less is More Please\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barry Humphries<\/h2>\n

          Fab writing in this short extract from a must read book.\u00a0 His prose is so elegant, his memory precise and haunting.\u00a0 Who would have thought this sensitive well off Australian boy lived inside Dame Edna?\u00a0 (For whom more is always more!)<\/p>\n

          The Vipers Club\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John H. Richardson<\/h2>\n

          Schlock Hollywood novel by former Joel Silver aide.\u00a0 Poorly written suspense novel revealing what goes on beneath etc. etc.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Junked.<\/p>\n

          Out of Sight\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          Elmore Leonard is like Chinese food.\u00a0 I can\u2019t remember a single thing about this book I read two weeks ago!\u00a0\u00a0 I found that was true of Get Shorty too.\u00a0\u00a0 Its modern America, bland, violent and unmemorable.\u00a0\u00a0 Oh that\u2019s it, its about the female agent who falls in love with the runaway prisoner.\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah right, lets get casting\u2026.<\/p>\n

          U and I\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nicholson Baker<\/h2>\n

          A fascinating, elegantly written peon to John Updike.<\/p>\n

          Inventing Wonderland\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jackie Wullschlager<\/h2>\n

          An excellent account of the golden age of children\u2019s writing, from Lewis Carroll, via Lear, Kenneth Grahame to Milne.\u00a0\u00a0 How odd that I am strangely in sympathy with all this at this time (Ratty and Owly.)\u00a0 Thoroughly excellently researched and well written book.<\/p>\n

          Longitude\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dava Sobel<\/h2>\n

          There has been a lot of fuss about this book, but it is no more really than a long monograph about the genius clock maker John Harrison and attempt to make a clock that would keep time at sea, for Longitudinal purposes.\u00a0\u00a0 Interesting but not quite the hype.<\/h2>\n

          The Tailor of Panama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carre<\/h2>\n

          I found this most disappointing.\u00a0 It is a clich\u00e9 now to say that his writing died with the Cold war, but as Brian Moore observed to me he is truly a genre writer and outside his genre he is horribly exposed.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is a story about a minor character, a tailor who is no more than a caricature who should have remained in the background.\u00a0\u00a0 It is a total reworking of Our Man in Havana, and exposes Le Carre to the inevitable comparison.\u00a0 Greene himself said Le Carre wasn\u2019t a good novelist and how ironic he should prove it in trying to emulate his critic.<\/p>\n

          Mad Cows\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kathy Lette<\/h2>\n

          Not a funny or as brilliant as Foetal Attraction.\u00a0\u00a0 Suffers a little by comparison.\u00a0\u00a0 Many fine things but not the real thing.<\/p>\n

          The Designated Mourner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wallace Shawn (play)<\/h2>\n

          Haven\u2019t a clue what the fuck this is about except Wally\u2019s ability to write endless monologue about the minutiae of life.<\/p>\n

          After Hannibal\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barry Unsworth<\/h2>\n

          I thought I should enjoy this \u201ccomic\u201d novel about building homes in Tuscany more than I did.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps my own experiences in that field prevented me from seeing the fun in it all.\u00a0\u00a0 It had a certain ITV drama feel to it.\u00a0\u00a0 A little too pat, or too ex-pat.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          December<\/h1>\n

          Burning Chrome\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Gibson<\/h2>\n

          Hutton gave it to me and insisted I read it.\u00a0\u00a0 I never really enjoy his work.\u00a0 Sorry.<\/p>\n

          Four small Penguin classics, 60\u2019s.<\/h3>\n

          Florence Nightingale\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lytton Strachey<\/h2>\n

          He is a little harsh on her.\u00a0\u00a0 But a good re-read of his monograph.<\/p>\n

          Thirty Obituaries from Wisden<\/h2>\n

          I loved this.\u00a0\u00a0 Fabulous.\u00a0 What a joy to wallow in this celebration of the language of cricket.<\/p>\n

          Childhood, Anthony Burgess<\/h2>\n

          Very fine writing about earliest childhood from the musical maestro.<\/p>\n

          Meeting Dr. Johnson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Boswell<\/h2>\n

          Oh happy Doctor, oh happy Scot.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Perfect reminiscences.<\/p>\n

          Lost Illusions\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Honore de Balzac<\/h2>\n

          A Harlot High and Low\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Honore de Balzac<\/h2>\n

          I didn\u2019t finish these two.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not quite as good to my mind, these scenes of Paris.\u00a0\u00a0 There are some wonderful attacks on journalism though, which make today\u2019s press seem quite noble!\u00a0\u00a0 Recurring characters, part of the Comedie Humaine.<\/p>\n

          Napoleon and Josephine\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evangeline Bruce<\/h2>\n

          My book of the year.\u00a0\u00a0 A wonderfully descriptive social history of France through the Revolution and the Empire.\u00a0\u00a0 Her only book and a fabulous one.\u00a0\u00a0 History has never been so alive, or the shit Napoleon so brilliantly skewered.\u00a0 He is like a little mob chieftain from Sicily.<\/p>\n

          Airframe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Crichton<\/h2>\n

          Christmas present and the usual fast read.\u00a0 He is so much reads like film scenarios which this will shortly be, that I think he has lost it in the millions of dollars.\u00a0 Compare his exact contemporary Paul Theroux, for the man who stuck to his last and makes words dance on the page.\u00a0 Crichton keeps you turning pages, but almost nothing remains.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a01995<\/h2>\n

          January<\/h1>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          Great Catherine.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carolly Erickson.<\/h2>\n

          Not the most gripping but certainly interesting history of the German born woman who rose to take over the throne of the Czars.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Dutch Shea Jnr.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Gregory Dunne.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          Wholly uninspired writing.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Under-dunne.\u00a0\u00a0 I junked it.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Edward Lear\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A biography by Peter Levi<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          Edward Lear is interesting.\u00a0 Peter Levi is not.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is the second book by him on one of my favourites I have been forced to abandon through boredom.\u00a0 (Shakespeare bio being the other.)\u00a0 He cannot write prose.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps his poetry is better.<\/p>\n

          The Captain and the Enemy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n

          I read for a few chapters before realising I had already read it, and by then I\u2019d kind of lost interest.<\/p>\n

          Selected Letters\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Madame de Sevigne<\/h2>\n

          Dipping.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fascinating world.\u00a0 Oh them French.\u00a0\u00a0 No wonder they invented the bidet.<\/p>\n

          The World As I found it\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bruce Duffy<\/h2>\n

          Fascinating novel, recommended by the Brentwood brother Doug Dutton, about Bertrand Russell and the extraordinary Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein.\u00a0\u00a0 A daring and unusual book, not everyone\u2019s cup of tea but fascinating about Cambridge in 1912, and right on period for my Miramax parody.<\/p>\n

          River Out of Eden\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Dawkins\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 March 10th<\/h2>\n

          Fascinating history of DNA and the clear statement of the modernist Darwinist position.\u00a0 The greatest Utility Theory, which explains that DNA is there solely for the advancement of DNA and has no sympathy or sense of cruelty or sentimentality.\u00a0 From the author of The Selfish Gene.<\/em><\/p>\n

          Our Game\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carre<\/h2>\n

          Seized on with delight as usual.\u00a0 And tore through it until by the end I realised I had become less than interested in the missing character Larry whom Tim Cranmer is tracking down in the Caucuses.\u00a0 His best friend and agent who double crosses him with his younger girl Emma isn\u2019t sure for half the book whether he has murdered him or not, and spends the second half looking for him.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Frankly Larry is such a pompous shit only a guilt ridden ex-spymaster could care tuppence if he lives or dies.\u00a0 A great pity really.<\/p>\n

          He seems to get going these days and then run out of steam.<\/p>\n

          The Secret Pilgrim\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Le Carre<\/h2>\n

          Thought I\u2019d have a bit of a re-read, but they are unused episodes being used up cleverly.<\/p>\n

          Blood Meridian\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cormac McCarthy<\/h2>\n

          Or the Evening Redness in the West.<\/p>\n

          Wow.\u00a0 I loved it.\u00a0 Not sure I understood it.\u00a0 But boy if Joyce has balls and could write about how the West was won this would be it.\u00a0 Wakes Finnegan up.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Thirty-Nine Steps\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Buchan<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          I just love the opening.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t get far, it\u2019s a ripping yarn, and as he says a pot boiler, but he sets the pot boiling brilliantly.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Pulp Fiction\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Quentin Tarantino<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          Didn\u2019t get far.\u00a0 Decided to see the movie again instead.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          A Swell Looking Babe\u00a0\u00a0 Jim Thompson<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          A swell old tale.\u00a0 Fifties prose.\u00a0 You can practically feel the sweltering past of LA.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Splitting.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fay Weldon<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          Split personality while splitting from the ex.\u00a0\u00a0 More tales of revenge from the marital front line.\u00a0 Multi personality.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Ern Malley Affair\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Heyward<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          Oz poet hoax.\u00a0\u00a0 Jokes.\u00a0\u00a0 Didn\u2019t get far.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Granta.\u00a0 Fifty.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Short stories by William Boyd and Julian Barnes.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          May<\/h1>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          The House of Mirth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Edith Wharton<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          Recommended by Mike Nichols.\u00a0\u00a0 To me it\u2019s Henry James in drag.\u00a0\u00a0 Lily Bart is like a Hardy heroine, headed straight for inevitable disaster when she holds all the cards.\u00a0 I like triumph over adversity as a model of character.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like the sentimental – the strain of novel that runs through Richardson\u2019s Clarissa.\u00a0\u00a0 I like Dicken\u2019s characters, but perhaps not so much the sentimental.\u00a0 I like toughness and character.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Loves of Faustyna\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nina FitzPatrick.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          I was attracted while browsing over the very funny opening.<\/p>\n

          \u201cIn the autumn of 1967 a cloud in the shape of human buttocks appeared over Krakow.\u201d<\/p>\n

          She keeps it up for a good long time, and is a very funny Irish writer, but in the end I junked it because it didn\u2019t seem to matter what order the chapters came in.\u00a0\u00a0 i.e. I had enjoyed her characters but there was no story to hang on for.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          A Tidewater Morning.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Styron<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          Dated short stories.\u00a0\u00a0 They have the feel of writing from another age, which I guess they are.<\/p>\n

          Harold and Maude<\/h2>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The screenplay.\u00a0\u00a0 Still amazing for a first effort.\u00a0\u00a0 Just shows that you can do a lot better in movies without people to help you.<\/h2>\n

          Pictures from an Institution\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Randall Jackson<\/h2>\n

          Rare novel by a poet.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Recommended by Mike Nichols.\u00a0 I was not so riveted or fascinated.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Precious prose careful crafted didn\u2019t quite swing for me.\u00a0 I kept missing the measure, perhaps it\u2019s an American rhythm.\u00a0 Something slightly precious and E.F. Benson\u2019s Georgy about it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A bitchy tale of a harpy female novelist coldly using her tenure at an American University to create characters for her next.\u00a0\u00a0 The sad bitchy ordinariness of American College life.\u00a0\u00a0 Not so much a hot bed of intrigue as a cold bath.\u00a0 About Mary MacCarthy writing a savage book about College Life.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Loved One\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Evelyn Waugh.<\/h2>\n

          Found in a second hand bookshop in Orlando, while promoting Casper.\u00a0 Mainly sci-fi books with a raft of second hand things.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Still fairly amusing pot boiler but not the Great Waugh.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

          June<\/em><\/p>\n

          The Sun Also Rises\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ernest Hemingway<\/h2>\n

          Picked up an old copy in a second hand shop, hiding amongst bad furniture.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do the books of our youth still haunt us.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Did I like Hemingway more this time around?\u00a0\u00a0 The deceptively short prose.\u00a0 The emotional understatement.\u00a0\u00a0 But still disappointed me a little.\u00a0\u00a0 This is more a novelist played by Humphrey Bogart than a great novel.\u00a0\u00a0 They go from Paris to Spain.\u00a0 They fish, they experience the Feria.\u00a0\u00a0 The girl having slept with the sad boxing Jewish friend absconds with the bullfighter from her drunken English husband.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Information\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Amis.<\/h2>\n

          I don\u2019t know which I\u2019m more tired of, modern Amis or the modern UK he paints.\u00a0 Both seem utterly lost.\u00a0\u00a0 There is something very nasty about him, even if he has written a novel pointing out there is something nasty and meretricious about himself and his success.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s all a bit Serge Gainsborough for me.\u00a0 Too smelly, too post heroin world of self indulgence.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gave up near the end and thought fuck it why bother.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Get Shorty\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elmore Leonard<\/h2>\n

          Shortly to be a much more interesting movie.\u00a0\u00a0 Almost forgettable, sketch for flick.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          From July 1995 (in the UK)<\/h1>\n

          The Wind in the Willows\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kenneth Grahame<\/h2>\n

          Much loved classic.\u00a0\u00a0 Research and delight.\u00a0\u00a0 The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is an interesting Sixties passage.\u00a0 But it is the characters that keep the book alive.<\/p>\n

          The Orchard Keeper\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cormac McCarthy<\/h2>\n

          Densely written.\u00a0 A bit too densely plotted for me.\u00a0\u00a0 I loved the early stuff with the Bar over the hole in the ground.\u00a0 Then he lost me.\u00a0 Deliberately obfuscating the levels of narrative, but his words dance delightfully in the mind\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n

          August<\/h1>\n

          The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Deepak Chopra<\/h2>\n

          Dedicated to George, who thinks he is a bit too dedicated to success.<\/p>\n

          From Wimbledon to Waco\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nigel Williams<\/h2>\n

          Nervous Englishman abroad.\u00a0 The family man peers myopically at America.\u00a0\u00a0 Revealing nothing much more than a superficial glance. Journalism.<\/p>\n

          Mini Penguins<\/h2>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          Raymond Chandler.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Goldfish<\/p>\n

          Don\u2019t bogarde that plot my friend\u2026<\/p>\n

          Damon Runyan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The snatching of Bookie Bob & others<\/p>\n

          Brilliant.<\/p>\n

          Truman Capote\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 From First to Last<\/p>\n

          Master of Mystery, artificial artifice; Cote Basque, realistic realism, lunch as a lethal weapon.<\/p>\n

          Oscar Wilde\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The little Prince.<\/p>\n

          A little dull.<\/p>\n

          Camille Paglia.<\/p>\n

          A fascinating essay and necessary corrective to the loopier elements of feminism.<\/p>\n

          William Boyd.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 Killing Lizards<\/p>\n

          Short stories from the good man in Africa.<\/p>\n

          Robert Louis Stevenson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Pavilion on the Links<\/p>\n

          Excellent dramatic suspense from the master of Ballentrae.<\/p>\n

          Fat Chance\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Simon Gray<\/h2>\n

          Bileful champagne-swigging bitter revenge on Stephen Fry\u2019s flight from his poorly reviewed West End Play.\u00a0\u00a0 Frankly I was rather proud of Stephen for his bravery in not letting the show go on \u2013 surely the dullest of clich\u00e9s.\u00a0\u00a0 Why should the show go on if it is no good, or they hate you in it.\u00a0\u00a0 I eventually personally found Stephen hiding in Belgium via the Internet \u2013 and he was spirited away to JohnCleese\u2019s beach house in Montecita, where I passed some interesting times with this delightful and sensitive man.\u00a0\u00a0 This book is Gray\u2019s dig at his anatomy and it is quite interesting about Rik Mayall and also Simon Gray, about whom one learns a little too much.<\/p>\n

          The Black Album\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hanif Murashi.<\/h2>\n

          Clash between Email and Female and the Prophet\u2019s restrictions on enjoying yourself.\u00a0\u00a0 Funny but ultimately the loonie Muslims get one down.<\/p>\n

          The Destiny of Nathalie (and other stories)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd.<\/h2>\n

          Short stories. Nice (that\u2019s the town) based.\u00a0 I really like his writing.<\/p>\n

          Oblivion\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Josephine Hart<\/h2>\n

          Best to be consigned to oblivion.\u00a0 I wish I\u2019d remained oblivious.\u00a0\u00a0 Pretentious and dull.\u00a0\u00a0 Dumped it.<\/p>\n

          A Memoir (not the title)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Sher<\/h2>\n

          Clearly not that memorable.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps it was about his year of playing Richard III like a spider.<\/p>\n

          The Moors Last Sigh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Salman Rushdie.<\/h2>\n

          Excellent epic of the Zogoiby family, the strange half Jewish Indian ex Moor\u2019s adventures in the spice trade.\u00a0 Magical realism, gripping and beautifully written.<\/p>\n

          The Statement\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brian Moore\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 October 95<\/h2>\n

          Almost as good as Graham Greene.\u00a0\u00a0 Mooreland inhabits the same grey areas of ordinary people facing great moral choice in their daily lives.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He is one of those very few writers whose new work one eagerly awaits.\u00a0\u00a0 Great yarn of the South of France and the pursuit of a French Vichyssoise Nazi hidden by the great from reprisals.\u00a0\u00a0 Spectacular opening.<\/p>\n

          Palimpsest\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gore Vidal<\/h2>\n

          Brilliant recollections in tranquillity with laugh out loud writing.<\/p>\n

          Morality Play\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barry Unsworth<\/h2>\n

          Worthy tale of priest becomes player, and players invent a new form of reality drama in unravelling of medieval murder.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not Booker winner though surely?<\/p>\n

          The New York Trilogy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Auster<\/h2>\n

          Specifically City of Glass.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Starting gangbusters then somehow went underground like the story.\u00a0\u00a0 Ran in to sand.\u00a0\u00a0 Disappointing because he can really write.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I didn\u2019t dip in to the other two.\u00a0 I\u2019ll revisit.<\/p>\n

          The Biographer\u2019s Moustache\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 Kingsley Amis<\/h2>\n

          Really funny.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Full of shockingly funny lines.\u00a0\u00a0 Real characters, real situations.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t realise he was this good.\u00a0\u00a0 And he is forgiving of people\u2019s foibles, unlike his more spiteful son, whose characters are just hateful.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sadly missed.\u00a0\u00a0 Remember he was present at the Footlights Smoker where J. Lynn and I first got elected!\u00a0\u00a0 Young Don at Peterhouse.<\/p>\n

          Short stories\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ernest Hemmingway\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 December<\/h2>\n

          Quite exquisite.\u00a0 He is at his finest in the short story.\u00a0 I read them with mounting delight.\u00a0\u00a0 I like almost all, except the \u201cWestern\u201d ones, which for some reason do not interest me.<\/p>\n

          Temples of Delight\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barbara Trapido\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 December<\/h2>\n

          Having some trouble with this I put it aside, then picked it up as flu decimated all my reading material on the boat, only to discover on the jet home round about page 246 that I had read it before.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Durn.<\/p>\n

          Letters from London\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Barnes<\/h2>\n

          Pleasantly written pieces reprinted from the New Yorker.\u00a0\u00a0 About the Royals, the fall of Thatcher, the rise of Blair, the Short World Chess Championship, and the fatwah on Rushdie etc.<\/p>\n

          Don Quixote\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cervantes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 December<\/h2>\n

          Found a nice new modern translation and am taking it a bit at a time.\u00a0 A little goes a long way.\u00a0 In my case not very far.\u00a0 It will remain unread.<\/p>\n

          The Misanthrope\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Moliere\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 December<\/h2>\n

          A mistaken attempt to read Tartuffe.\u00a0 (It happens.)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Quite where the fun of this \u201ccomedy\u201d is I can\u2019t quite see.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019d like to see it acted.\u00a0 (I think it\u2019s better than this. EI 2019)<\/p>\n

          The Doctor In Spite of Himself\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Moliere<\/h2>\n

          Not a bad farce.\u00a0\u00a0 As you can see I\u2019m repairing a few holes in my French fences.<\/p>\n

          Paperweight\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Fry<\/h2>\n

          Sick at sea, and hospitalised on a private yacht, the Talitha G, this was a luxury cruise in the Caribbean ruined by a horrible flu the host brought and spread amongst the crew and passengers.\u00a0 I enjoyed these sly pieces from the spry Fry which cheered me up when the fever ran high.<\/p>\n

          Selected Writings\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Betjeman<\/h2>\n

          Poems, writings, and the screenplay of Metroland, a remarkable combo of poetry and documentary.<\/p>\n

          Mrs \u2018Arris goes to Paris\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul Gallico\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 December<\/h2>\n

          Rather badly written sentimental yarn about an English charlady and a Dior dress, which would make a perfectly commercial sentimental film, which is why I picked it up and read it.\u00a0\u00a0 I believe my literary instincts are superior to my commercial ones, so I had trouble finishing it.<\/p>\n

          The First Man \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Albert Camus<\/h2>\n

          Wonderfully written.\u00a0 A poetic reflection, unfinished novel of a childhood in Algiers.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Delightful.\u00a0 How good he was.\u00a0 What a sad car accident.\u00a0\u00a0 This manuscript discovered in the vehicle.\u00a0 Just published.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/u>1994<\/u><\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          January\/February\/March.<\/h1>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          Farewell to My Concubine.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lilian Lee.<\/p>\n

          Suprisingly good.\u00a0\u00a0 Well written yarn set in Chinese opera.\u00a0 Much better than the movie of course.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Gazza Agonistes.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian Hamilton.\u00a0\u00a0 Granta.<\/p>\n

          Legless in Gazza.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not as good as the match.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Client.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0 John Grisham.\u00a0\u00a0 Unreadable.<\/p>\n

          The MacDonalds of writing.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Disclosure.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Crichton.<\/p>\n

          His latest.\u00a0\u00a0 Apparently even women can be bastards.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Binary<\/u>. Michael Crichton.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          A History of Warfare.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Keegan.<\/p>\n

          Great for suggesting that regiments in the British Army are in fact tribes.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Talking It Over<\/u>.\u00a0\u00a0 Julian Barnes.<\/p>\n

          One of those books you start to read\u00a0 again, only to find you’ve read it already, and you still can’t finish it.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Terminal Man<\/u>.\u00a0 Michael Crichton.<\/p>\n

          Page turning as ever.\u00a0 Though like Chinese food; nothing sticks.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Blue Afternoon.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Boyd.<\/p>\n

          Story within a story.\u00a0\u00a0 I like his writing.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Et Cetera Et Cetera.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lewis Thomas.<\/p>\n

          Essays on words and their origins, with musings on language and its origins.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Fragile Species.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lewis Thomas.<\/p>\n

          Picked up reading again from the fall.\u00a0\u00a0 The Essay on the origins of language is the finest, with his interesting hypothesis that language is invented by children.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I observe this to be true from Lily.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          Playing God<\/u>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles L. Mee.<\/p>\n

          Seven fateful moments when great men met to change the world.\u00a0\u00a0 (Attila.\u00a0 Henry V11, Cortes and Moctezuma are the best)<\/p>\n

          April.<\/h1>\n

          To the Scaffold<\/u>.\u00a0 The Life of Marie Antoinette.\u00a0\u00a0 Carolly Erickson.<\/p>\n

          Touching and poignant reminder just how beastly the French can be in a fit of fervour.\u00a0\u00a0 Marie Theresa\u2019s daughters fall from everything.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Julip<\/u>.\u00a0 Jim Harrison.<\/p>\n

          The same, but three great yarns, from the macho monster of Michigan.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saw him at Dutton\u2019s.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Delusions of Grandma<\/u>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carrie Fisher.<\/p>\n

          Delusions of writing.\u00a0\u00a0 I can\u2019t tell if I know Cora and don\u2019t like her or if I just know Carrie and don\u2019t like her character.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 She moves the goal posts so far on the Brian relationship that you wonder if she\u2019ll do anything to get an ending.<\/p>\n

          May<\/h1>\n

          The Longest Journey.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E.M. Forster.<\/p>\n

          His irony and wit strikes even more me this time.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          High Wind In Jamaica.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Hughes.<\/p>\n

          I can\u2019t believe I haven\u2019t read this delightful and tough tale about children before.\u00a0 Totally recommendable.\u00a0\u00a0 Better than Lord of the Flies.<\/p>\n

          June<\/h1>\n

          Foetal Attraction<\/u>.\u00a0 Kathy Lette. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (France)<\/p>\n

          Hilarious, as funny and witty as the lady herself.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Makes Carrie Fisher look like an actress.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Hippopotamus.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Fry.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (France)<\/p>\n

          Reads surprisingly like Simon Gray. He is so clever, and brilliant.\u00a0 Passages are hysterical, but the sum is slightly less interesting than the parts.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Waterworks.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0 E. L. Doctorow.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (France)<\/p>\n

          Certainly his most interesting book since Ragtime.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But then he strays into the pretentious, and his yarn reads less interestingly than the tale.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          East of Wimbledon.<\/u>\u00a0 Nigel Williams.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (France)<\/p>\n

          Knockdown funny.\u00a0 A book to cheer the soul of Salman Rushdie.\u00a0\u00a0 Worth a thinwah if not a fatwah.\u00a0\u00a0 Though like all comic books it is paradoxically easy to give up on.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And I did.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Lunch.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Karen Moline.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (London)<\/p>\n

          Hustled into buying it at Hatchards by the authoress, I soon regretted it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dull porn.\u00a0 There is no such thing as a free lunch.<\/p>\n

          July<\/h1>\n

          The Oldest Dead White European Males.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bernard Knox\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 . London<\/p>\n

          Greek culture by a Geek.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Great Train Robbery\u00a0 <\/u>\u00a0Michael Crichton.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 His first novel, really trying way too hard.\u00a0 Overwritten to a fault. The Victorian cockney underworld slang is so thoroughly researched no one can understand it.\u00a0\u00a0 He learned to cut out the writing and just leave the tale.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Orange Tree<\/u> Carlos Fuentes.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 July 20th L.A.<\/p>\n

          Cortes again.\u00a0\u00a0 Beautifully written interleaved stories from the New World,\u00a0 set around the Orange tree.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Jefferson<\/u>\u00a0 Saul K.Padover.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0July. San Fran\/L.A.<\/p>\n

          Edited bio of this fascinating founding father and third Prez who came up with the brilliant concept of The Pursuit of Happiness, as well as the Bill of Rights and the Louisiana purchase – almost the entire West of the Mississippi – from Napoleon.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 An inspired visionary hero.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Unwelcome Words <\/u>\u00a0Paul Bowles\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 August.<\/p>\n

          Unwelcome and unpunctuated.\u00a0\u00a0 Very short.\u00a0\u00a0 The style is pleasant on the ones with punctuation.\u00a0\u00a0 I could read much more.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Driver\u2019s Seat<\/u>\u00a0 Muriel Spark.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 August<\/p>\n

          A strange little tale about a woman looking to be murdered in a foreign city.\u00a0 She chooses her murderer.\u00a0 Odd.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Alienist.<\/u> Caleb Carr.<\/p>\n

          The writing alienated me.\u00a0\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t stay interested and chucked it.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          A Way In the World<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0 V.S.Naipaul.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 August 15th.<\/p>\n

          The most beautifully and elegantly written book.\u00a0 Crystal clarity.\u00a0 Deals with a series of unsuccesful revolutionaries and adventures who came to grief in Venezuela and Trinidad, from the final pathetic voyage of Raleigh,\u00a0 searching his own mind for El Dorado, to Miranda, (a previously unheard of mate of Simon Bolivar) and a typical pleasant but bullshitting revolutionary of the sixties.\u00a0 Reality against fantasies.\u00a0\u00a0 Oddly described as a novel.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Empress Josephine<\/u>\u00a0 Ernest John Knapton\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 August L.A.<\/p>\n

          A very well written and highly readable, and uncensorious account of the life of the Creole who became an Empress.\u00a0 She was almost executed in the Terror, her first husband was,\u00a0 then she married the young Napoleon who was besotted by her, went off to become the conqueror of Italy and made her an Empress.\u00a0\u00a0 He divorced her to form an Austrian alliance and breed an heir, but never ceased to love, visit and write to her.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Playland <\/u>\u00a0John Gregory Dunne.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0August<\/p>\n

          Memorable for its controversial dedication to Leslie Abrahmson.<\/p>\n

          A yarn with second hand characters.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure the gangster was in several movies before, and the child star, well, strong sense of already seen.\u00a0 Page turning, pleasant enough, totally unmemorable a week later.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Sheltering Sky<\/u>\u00a0 Paul Bowles\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 August L.A.<\/p>\n

          A remarkable and unique novel.\u00a0\u00a0 A sad, moving story of three American travelers in North Africa, conveying the great brooding heat of the Sahara and its inhabitants.\u00a0\u00a0 An extraordinary work, and clearly a classic.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Artistic Differences.<\/u>\u00a0 Charles Hauck\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 September Santa Barbara<\/p>\n

          Hilarious and salutary tale about the monsters that TV sitcom creates, apparently based on true tales of Suzane Somers.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stinks of reality.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Mystic Masseur<\/u>\u00a0 V.S.Naipaul.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0September Santa Barbara<\/p>\n

          His first, and comic, novel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Interesting tales of Trinidad.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Daisy Bates in the Desert<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0 Julia Blackburn\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 September L.A.<\/p>\n

          Intriguing vividly imagined empathic tale of Daisy Bates and her fantasy world.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Bunny Bunny<\/u>\u00a0 A sort of Love Story.\u00a0\u00a0 Alan Zweibel.<\/p>\n

          The most touching, heart-breaking and hilarious true story I have read.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The lovely man that is Alan Zweibel remembering the lovely woman that was Gilda, and their odd, wonderful relationship.\u00a0\u00a0 The best.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Informers<\/u>\u00a0 Bret Easton Ellis.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 September<\/p>\n

          He moves from the whacked out world of the valium assisted dysfunctional marital world, to the coked up, spaced out world of their dysfunctional children, into the savage (and unwelcome) world of child torturers.\u00a0 He has a bleak compelling vision of modern life, which is impressive, but I hate the savagery that lurks beneath the skin of his characters, though I cannot ignore it.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Closing Time<\/u>\u00a0 Joseph Heller\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 October<\/p>\n

          Ominously\u00a0 described as a sequel to Catch 22 it has desperation in every page.\u00a0\u00a0 There are flashes and of course the same names but much more in common with the dull endless unshaped rambling of Something Happened.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I closed early.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Sphere<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Crichton\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 October<\/p>\n

          Formulaic.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The formula is good, but somewhat predictable in this yarn about discovering a time capsule from the future that has been buried in the ocean for three hundred years.\u00a0 They enter the sphere and are changed.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hokey but good hospital read… I still like him.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          We Bombed In Burbank <\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Vance Muse\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 October<\/p>\n

          Totally forgettable book about the making of a totally forgettable TV sitcom by Jay Tarses.\u00a0 Artistic differences it ain\u2019t.\u00a0 Bad journalism. Chucked<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Fermata<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0 Nicholson Baker.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 October<\/p>\n

          Like all good erotic writing it reaches the loins.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But it also has a neat idea about the fold – the time stopping ability which allows the narrator\/hero to do disgusting things we\u2019d all like to do given the power to halt the rest of the Universe at will.\u00a0\u00a0 Interesting.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Corelli\u2019s Mandolin<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Louis de Bernieres\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 November<\/p>\n

          Beautiful novel set in Cephallonia during WW2 about the Italian occupation of Greece, Dr Iannis, his daughter Pelagia and her romance with the mandolin playing Captain Corelli.\u00a0\u00a0 Moving, and tragic and beautifully written.\u00a0\u00a0 One of the best this year.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Exile and The Kingdom\u00a0\u00a0 <\/u>Albert Camus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 November<\/p>\n

          Paradoxically found the first two stories less interesting than Paul Bowles and may return to the last four later.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Throat Sprockets<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0 Tim Lucas.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 November<\/p>\n

          Vaguely dirty.\u00a0 Obsession with the throatal area in the female.\u00a0 I suppose a budding vampire.\u00a0 Abandoned early from lack of interest.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          All The Pretty Horses<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cormac McCarthy.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 November<\/p>\n

          Fabulous.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mike Nichols recommended.\u00a0\u00a0 Absolutely wonderful book, elegantly and originally written about three Texan boys and their adventures in Mexico.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Just brilliant.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          How to Travel with a Salmon<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0 Umberto Eco\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 November<\/p>\n

          Remember to travel without Umberto.\u00a0\u00a0 Occasional pieces reprinted that would have been fine in yesterday\u2019s newspaper.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Child of God<\/u>\u00a0 Cormac McCarthy.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 November<\/p>\n

          Once you\u2019ve read one you have to read the lot.\u00a0\u00a0 He writes so\u00a0 wonderfully.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This one about the strange Lester Ballard and his violent and strange half life and murders.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The writing is so clear and clean and superb that it hurts.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          Prisoners of Childhood<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alice Miller\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 November<\/p>\n

          Interesting, again for research.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Narcissism and the false self touched on.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Female Rage<\/u>\u00a0 Mary Valentis & Anne Devane\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 December<\/p>\n

          Interesting and well written.\u00a0\u00a0 Again read for research.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Why are they so mad?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Medusa is the metaphor.\u00a0\u00a0 Certainly not easy to cut their heads off.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Must be nice to have men to blame for everything though.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Fear of Fifty<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Erica Jong.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 December<\/p>\n

          Will she ever shut up?\u00a0\u00a0 Never has so much been written about so little.\u00a0\u00a0 She is the only argument in favour of clitorectomy,\u00a0 it would have saved us hours.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I read only to glean something about the dilemma of the fifty year old woman.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No help alas.\u00a0\u00a0 Skimmed and dumped.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/u>1993<\/u><\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Barchester Towers.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Trollope\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 March<\/p>\n

          So memorable I have forgotten the title. (Irony marks needed)\u00a0 Something to do with becoming Dean of somewhere.\u00a0 I find him effete and I\u2019m afraid dull.\u00a0\u00a0 Major\u2019s favourite.\u00a0\u00a0 Figures.\u00a0\u00a0 I left the book in Mustique….<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          Martin Chuzzlewit.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles Dickens.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 April<\/p>\n

          The incomparable Pecksniff.\u00a0 The overdone Gamp.\u00a0 And the slightly unsatisfactory middle in America, which all gathers pace for the revenge on Pecksniff, which is delightful.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          May Week Was In June<\/u>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Clive James\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 April<\/p>\n

          Clive and I!\u00a0\u00a0 The ego has landed.\u00a0\u00a0 More tales of the man who took Cambridge by storm.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was love at first sight.\u00a0\u00a0 Clive James fell in love with himself at first sight.\u00a0 Curiously touching funny and pretentious at the same time.\u00a0\u00a0 Just like Clive.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          Battles of The English Civil War<\/u>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Austin Woolrych.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 May<\/p>\n

          Historical treatment of three major battles.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          A Season In Purgatory.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dominick Dunne\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 May<\/p>\n

          Tale of Irish political family who hush up a murder in the family so that he can become Senator.\u00a0 Can\u2019t imagine which family he\u2019s getting at.<\/p>\n

          Met him at a party, and always like his stuff.\u00a0 He gave a few nuggets about the Menendez boys and their lawyer Leslie Abrahamson, who apparently can\u2019t get off their case, even though they can no longer afford her, in case they turn on her and reveal all the stuff she made them say, and get off that way!<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          Barry Lyndon.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thackeray.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 May<\/p>\n

          Great historical romance of the Irish scamp who from a scoundrel turns into a selfish and unpleasant man.\u00a0\u00a0 Falters a little at the end, but he knows his man.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Third Man\/ The Fallen Idol<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 June<\/p>\n

          Incomparably concise stories for two great movies.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          The Leopard.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Guiseppe di Lampedusa.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 June<\/p>\n

          Beautiful tale of a Sicilian Prince at the time of the Risorgimento and the decline of Princes in Italy with the arrival of Garibaldi and the new Italian state.\u00a0 Published posthumously.\u00a0 A great classic.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Ariel,\u00a0 A Shelley Romance<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Andre Maurois\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 June\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “England in one of those crazy fits of virtue which alternate with periods of the most amazing licence, had just hounded Byron from her shores.\u00a0\u00a0 When he entered a ball-room every woman would leave it, as though he were the devil in person.\u00a0 He determined to shake for ever from his shoes the dust of so hypocritical a land.”<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Vanity Fair<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 William Makepeace Thackeray\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 June<\/p>\n

          The great and memorable Becky Sharp.\u00a0\u00a0 My but he knows his England.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To think VF is now a trashy rag sycophantically profiling boring farts in New York or Hollywood.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Complete Nonsense of Edward Lear.<\/u><\/p>\n

          And utter.\u00a0\u00a0 Delightful to know Mr Lear, even though he\u2019s exceedingly queer.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          \u00a0The Owl and the Pussycat.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 June.<\/p>\n

          Still one of the best verses in the English language if not one of the best poems.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 he\u2019d have been jailed and hounded for child abuse in our PC times.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

          Mayday<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jonathan Lynn.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 July 19th 1993<\/p>\n

          Pre-publication copy of Jonathan’s novel, for review, which was supplied.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Very funny tales from Hollywood.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Night Manager<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0 by John Le Carr\u00e9.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 August<\/p>\n

          Good yarn of anti-arms dealer heroics from the Spymaster, but the arms trade has not quite replaced the paranoiac world of the Cold War.\u00a0\u00a0 His characters seem tailor-written for certain English actors in the TV or film version.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Pocahontas <\/u>\u00a0\u00a0by Grace Steele Woodward.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 August.<\/p>\n

          University of Oklahoma Press.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Interesting story of the first American heroine, which would make a great film but for Political correctness…\u00a0 (Actually I got to Hollywood and found it was announced as a coming movie!\u00a0\u00a0 Doubtless it\u2019ll star Daniel Day Lewis as John Smith and blame the Brits for everything.)<\/p>\n

          But for Pocahontas the original (and earlier than Mass. attempts at colonisation would have failed utterly.)\u00a0\u00a0 Her act is one of startling heroism.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Fatal Shore <\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0by Robert Hughes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 August 17th<\/p>\n

          Picking up the tale of colonialisation a century and a half later.\u00a0 Hughes is angry at everything…<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Bridges of Madison County<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0 Robert James Waller\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 August 26th<\/p>\n

          Almost as affecting as the real thing.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Rising Sun<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Crichton\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 August 28th<\/p>\n

          Blames the Japs for their underhand and unscrupulous behaviour.\u00a0 Which unqualified abuse was removed from the dreadful film version.<\/p>\n

          I wonder which nationality\u2019s Corporations own the studios?<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Shear<\/u>\u00a0 Tim Parks.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 October 3rd<\/p>\n

          The most beautifully written novel.\u00a0 Utterly recommendable.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Visiting Mrs Nabokov.<\/u>\u00a0 Martin Amis.<\/p>\n

          Not worth the visit.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Congo.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Crichton.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 November 1993<\/p>\n

          Apes go ape.\u00a0\u00a0 Shortly to be a movie.\u00a0 Gripping stuff.\u00a0 His tales are the nearest thing to actually reading a movie.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Stolen Years<\/u>\u00a0 Roger Touhy & Ray Brennan.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 November 1993<\/p>\n

          Memoirs of a Capone enemy in bootlegging.\u00a0 Given me by Uncle Carmine, whom I suspect was there!<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Andromeda Strain.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Crichton.\u00a0 Nov\/Dec 1993<\/p>\n

          Sickness from space.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          The Fragile Species.<\/u>\u00a0\u00a0 Lewis Thomas.<\/p>\n

          How we’ll miss him.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The most delicate and interesting essayist of the natural world.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pre-<\/u>1992<\/u><\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Pre-1992<\/p>\n

          The following is a random selection of books found in my library, when we were going to make the Novel game.\u00a0\u00a0 By no means comprehensive, the choice of book is random, and I\u2019m not sure I read them all.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          INDEX<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          GENERAL FICTION<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Richard Adams – The Plague Dogs<\/p>\n

          Kingsley Amis – I Like It Here<\/p>\n

          Martin Amis – London Fields<\/p>\n

          Jeffrey Archer – Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less<\/p>\n

          George Axelrod – Where Am I Now When I Need Me?<\/p>\n

          Iain Banks – The Wasp Factory<\/p>\n

          Julian Barnes – Metroland<\/p>\n

          H.E. Bates – Oh! To Be In England<\/p>\n

          Brendan Behan – The Scarperer<\/p>\n

          Malcolm Bradbury – The History Man<\/p>\n

          Anita Brookner – Hotel Du Lac<\/p>\n

          Henri Charriere – Papillon<\/p>\n

          Len Deighton – An Expensive Place To Die<\/p>\n

          Marilyn Francis – The Women’s Room<\/p>\n

          Freddie Gershon – Sweetie Baby Cookie Honey<\/p>\n

          Gunter Grass – The Tin Drum<\/p>\n

          Joseph Heller – God Knows<\/p>\n

          William Horwood – Duncton Wood<\/p>\n

          Captain W.E. Johns – Biggles In The Orient<\/p>\n

          Ken Kersey – One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest<\/p>\n

          Laurie Lee – As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning<\/p>\n

          Peter Menegas – The Doll Hospital<\/p>\n

          Jay Mcinerney – Story Of My Life<\/p>\n

          Colin Macinnes – Absolute Beginners<\/p>\n

          George Orwell – 1984<\/p>\n

          Sylvia Plath – The Bell Jar<\/p>\n

          J.B. Priestly – Lost Empires<\/p>\n

          Luke Rhinehart – The Dice Man<\/p>\n

          Tom Robbins – Even Cowgirls Get The Blues<\/p>\n

          Salmon Rushdie – The Satanic Verses<\/p>\n

          J.D. Salinger – The Catcher In The Rye<\/p>\n

          Tom Sharpe – Wilt<\/p>\n

          Muriel Spark – The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie<\/p>\n

          Leslie Thomas – The Virgin Soldiers<\/p>\n

          John Updike – Roger’s Version<\/p>\n

          Keith Waterhouse – Bimbo<\/p>\n

          Tom Wolfe – The Bonfire Of The Vanities<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          SCIENCE FICTION\/FANTASY<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Douglas Adams – The Hitch Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy<\/p>\n

          Isaac Asimov – Prelude To Foundation<\/p>\n

          Terry Brooks – Wizard At Large<\/p>\n

          Arthur C. Clarke – The City And The Stars<\/p>\n

          Robert A. Heinlein – Citizen Of The Galaxy<\/p>\n

          Frank Herbert – Dune<\/p>\n

          John Wyndham – The Day Of The Triffids<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          ‘ROMANTIC’ FICTION<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Charlotte Vale Allen – Time\/Steps<\/p>\n

          Virginia Andrews – Flowers In The Attic<\/p>\n

          Beryl Bainbridge – Sweet William<\/p>\n

          Noel Barber – A Farewell To France<\/p>\n

          Tessa Barclay – Garland Of War<\/p>\n

          Constance Bartel – A Woman Like That<\/p>\n

          Sally Beauman – Destiny<\/p>\n

          Maeve Binchy – Echoes<\/p>\n

          Barbara Taylor Bradford – Voice Of The Heart<\/p>\n

          Jacquelin Briskin – Too Much Too Soon<\/p>\n

          Barbara Cartland – Paradise In Penang<\/p>\n

          Jackie Collins – Hollywood Wives<\/p>\n

          Shirley Conran – Lace 2<\/p>\n

          Jilly Cooper – Harriet<\/p>\n

          Monica Dickens – Dear Doctor Lily<\/p>\n

          Robyn Donald – A Summer Storm<\/p>\n

          Torey Hayden – The Sunflower Forest<\/p>\n

          Judith Krantz – Mistral’s Daughter<\/p>\n

          Doris Lessing – Martha Quest<\/p>\n

          Erich Segal – Oliver’s Story<\/p>\n

          Danielle Steel – A Perfect Stranger<\/p>\n

          Josephine Tey – The Expensive Halo<\/p>\n

          Fay Weldon – The Hearts And Lives Of Men<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          HORROR<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          John Christopher – The Little People<\/p>\n

          Robin Cook – Mutation<\/p>\n

          Patrick Harpur – The Rapture<\/p>\n

          James Herbert – The Fog<\/p>\n

          Stephen King – The Tommyknockers<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          ACTION\/MURDER\/MYSTERY\/SUSPENSE<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Desmond Bagley – Running Blind<\/p>\n

          Agatha Christie – 4.50 From Paddington<\/p>\n

          Dick Francis – Reflex<\/p>\n

          Andrew M. Greeley – Virgin And Martyr<\/p>\n

          Graham Green – The Honorary Consul<\/p>\n

          Dashiell Hammett – The Maltese Falcon<\/p>\n

          John Le Carre – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy<\/p>\n

          John Mortimer – Paradise Postponed<\/p>\n

          Iris Murdoch – The Sea, The Sea<\/p>\n

          Ruth Rendell – An Unkindness Of Ravens<\/p>\n

          Sidney Sheldon – If Tomorrow Comes<\/p>\n

          Neville Shute – No Highway<\/p>\n

          Mary Stewart – My Brother Michael<\/p>\n

          Craig Thomas – The Last Raven<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          HISTORICAL FICTION<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Chaim Bermant – The Patriarch<\/p>\n

          Marcelle Bernstein – Salka<\/p>\n

          Madeleine Brent – Golden Urchin<\/p>\n

          Margaret Campbell Barnes – With All My Heart<\/p>\n

          Catherine Cookson – The Mallen Streak<\/p>\n

          Alexander Cordell – Requiem For A Patriot<\/p>\n

          Barbara Erskine – Lady Of Hay<\/p>\n

          Georgette Heyer – The Reluctant Widow<\/p>\n

          Victoria Holt – The House Of A Thousand Lanterns<\/p>\n

          Lena Kennedy – The Dandelion Seed<\/p>\n

          Beryl Kingston – Tuppenny Times<\/p>\n

          Nora Lofts – To See A Fine Lady<\/p>\n

          Claire Rayner – Gower Street<\/p>\n

          Anya Seton – Avalon<\/p>\n

          E.V. Thompson – Becky<\/p>\n

          T.H. White – The Once And Future King<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          I have to confess I haven\u2019t written my reading blog for ages, though I have been reading. Of course. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I have been bingeing Patricia Highsmith.\u00a0 She is quite wonderful.\u00a0 I think what she gets is the ability of people to appear one way and yet underneath be totally monsters. \u00a0And vice versa.\u00a0 She knows perfectly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reading"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=791"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":798,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791\/revisions\/798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}